The sad and unnecessary shooting in a Florida movie theater that ended with a 43 year old father dead and a retired police captain in custody charged with 2nd degree murder has received some attention here today. Most of that attention had been centered around comments attacking our gun culture, with many finding the opportunity a great time to take potshots (pun intended) at Florida.
Well, we'll soon be the third most populous state, so a lot of things do and will happen here. We are also home to the low life (my opinion) George Zimmerman, whose hunt of another human captivated and divided an already horribly divided nation along Red and Blue lines. And yes, we've a slimeball governor (again, my opinion) our electorate put into office.
By virtue of these things, we are bound to be in the news a LOT. But I contend in this instance, the trashing of Florida is inappropriate because the man who shot and killed his fellow moviegoer is a retired police office. Not only that, he's a retired captain of the force, meaning he once commanded hundreds of officers. And in a twist of irony -- or perhaps indicative of his action -- this was the same police official who apparently was instrumental in setting up Tampa's SWAT program.
So here's the thing, Florida's concealed carry laws (as lax as they are) has ZERO to do with this case because as a retired police officer in good standing, this individual, as per FEDERAL LAW, is legally entitled to carry a concealed weapon almost anywhere, in any state in the country. The respective law is the H.R. 218, the “Law Enforcement Officers’ Safety Act” and S. 1132, the “Law Enforcement Officers’ Safety Act Improvements Act” and H.R. 4310, the “National Defense Authorization Act.”
This law was signed by Bush The Lesser in 2004 and went in to effect immediately. That captain could have been sitting in Carnegie Hall in NYC or the Forum in LA with a loaded weapon as legally as here was in Florida because state laws had nothing to do with his ability to carry or not.
So there is much to criticize about in this situation:
1. We could talk about the authoritarian nature of American law enforcement, where compliance is expected to be immediate no matter what.
2. We could talk about the militarization of our nation's local law enforcement due to drug seizure laws, private prisons and federal grants that give local cops military hardware.
3. We can talk about our NATIONAL obsession with guns.
4. And sure, you can rag about Florida all you want, but this time, your criticisms might be misplaced and misidentifying the problem.
I prefer to end with this message, which I think captures a big part of the problem.