Doug Varrieur likes to shoot. Problem is, it’s 25 miles to the nearest range, where they charge $45 an hour. What’s a gun enthusiast to do?

Lucky for him, Varrieur lives in Florida. Problem solved. Just erect a makeshift range in the back yard and fire away. It’s perfectly legal.

Re-read that if you want. It’s just as nutty the second time around.

In a story by my colleague Cammy Clark that appeared in the Miami Herald, we learn that Varrieur, who lives on Big Pine Key, once complained to a gun-shop owner about what a pain it was going to the range to shoot. The owner put him onto Florida statute 790.15, which lists the conditions under which one may not legally discharge a firearm in the state. Turns out there aren’t many. You may not shoot “in any public place or on the right-of-way of any paved public road, highway or street,” over any road, highway or occupied premises, or “recklessly or negligently” at your own home. Otherwise, let ’er rip.

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20140131/OPINION04/301310045/Leonard-Pitts-Shooting-sunshine-state

Almost 1,000 guns had been reported stolen to the Orange County Sheriff's Office and Orlando Police Department through the end of November. That's only a portion of the countywide total, as gun thefts reported to the other 10 police agencies have yet to be tallied.

The 994 stolen guns reported so far represent a 46 percent jump over the 680 gun thefts reported by all 12 county police agencies in 2001, according to Orlando Sentinel research. And while the county's population has grown in the same period, it has been outpaced by the growth in gun thefts.

Thefts of firearms are of particular concern to authorities because of the likelihood they'll end up in the hands of criminals and used in more crimes. Stolen guns are so lucrative and easy to sell that Orlando police say burglars target homes and cars seeking firearms of all types.

And victims who don't securely store guns, or who don't record their weapons' serial numbers, are unwittingly contributing to a black market of essentially untraceable guns, according to interviews.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-gun-violence-orange-county-20140102,0,7397528.story

Cook County Sheriff’s officials say they’ve filed an objection to a gang leader’s state application to carry a concealed firearm — and they’re opposing hundreds of other applications, too.

The high-ranking Latin Kings leader possesses a state firearm owner’s identification card, which allows him to own a gun. He got the card because he doesn’t have any felonies on his record, said authorities, who declined to name him.

Under the state’s concealed carry law that took effect this year, an individual must first have a firearm owner’s identification card to apply for a permit. Once an application is filed, local law enforcement agencies have 30 days to file objections with a state licensing board.

So far, sheriff’s officials have filed objections to about 180 applications and plan to object to about 180 more, said Cara Smith, executive director of the Cook County Correctional Center.

http://www.suntimes.com/25162259-761/latin-king-leader-wants-to-conceal-and-carry.html