As the debate continues about changing Florida’s law to allow concealed carry permit holders to carry in unsecured portions of airports — the way they do in 44 other states — state Rep. Evan Jenne (D-Ft. Lauderdale) says armed citizens would create more chaos rather than safety.
Jenne did not address the amount of chaos created when unarmed and defenseless citizens were randomly targeted by someone who did not feel like obeying the gun-free zone signs in Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International.
According to the Miami Herald, Jenne suggests that if law-abiding citizens were allowed to be armed, it could confuse police when they reach the scene, and “they wouldn’t know which person with the gun was the instigating shooter, and that could delay aid to victims.” (If such a scenario were true, concealed carry permit holders the nation over would be confusing police daily.)
Jenne then said of armed law-abiding citizens, “You may get lucky and it may work once or twice, but I firmly believe in my heart of hearts that you’re just going to end up with a more chaotic situation and more people hurt and killed.”
- On March 22, 2015, a concealed carry permit holder was walking by a Philadelphia barber shop when he heard gunfire and screams. He ran inside the business to see a man randomly shooting at patrons. The concealed permit holder ended the chaos by shooting the gunman dead.
- On April 17, 2015, an Uber driver with a concealed carry permit saw a man outside his vehicle open fire on a group of pedestrians, allegedly trying to carry out a mass shooting. The Uber driver exited his vehicle, drew his gun, and ended the chaos by shooting the gunman.
- On June 27, 2016 — just 15 days after an attacker was able to kill 49 people in an Orlando gun-free zone — a concealed carry permit holder stopped an attempted mass shooting outside a Spartanburg, South Carolina, nightclub by shooting a gunman who had already wounded three people and was allegedly still shooting when the permit holder ended the chaos and took him out.
- On January 12, an identified armed citizen came to a stop on I-10 in Arizona because he saw that a State Trooper was being beaten on the side of the road. That armed citizen intervened in the chaos, shooting the attacker multiple times and killing him. He saved the trooper in the process.
The perpetrator (and alleged perpetrators) were not killed in every example listed above; in some of the examples, they were only wounded. But in every instance, an armed citizen stepped into a chaotic situation and brought calm by ending an attack. I wonder what the innocents at Ft. Lauderdale’s baggage claim would have given to have one armed law-abiding citizen in their midst? Just one citizen who was willing to step forward and bring peace out of chaos?
If Representative Jenne gets his way, the people of Ft. Lauderdale will never enjoy that benefit.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.