The Gunshine State [View all]

[MrScorpio]

How the NRA attained dominance in the 'Gunshine State

By DARA KAM
Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau
Updated: 9:21 a.m. Saturday, April 7, 2012
Posted: 11:18 p.m. Friday, April 6, 2012

TALLAHASSEE — Gun rights supporters and gun control activists alike see Florida as one of the nation’s gun-friendliest states.

Its reputation as the “Gunshine State” is rooted in politics, culture and the seemingly irresistible force of Marion Hammer, a soft-spoken grandmother who parlayed her gun rights advocacy in Florida into becoming the first female president of the National Rifle Association.

The Feb. 26 shooting death of unarmed Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in Sanford has cast a national spotlight on Florida’s first-in-the-nation “stand your ground” law, which allows individuals who feel threatened to use deadly force to defend themselves in any public place where they have a right to be.

But that law is just one of a slew of pro-gun laws that Florida has put on the books in the past 25 years.

It started in 1987 when Florida became the first state to create a “shall issue” concealed weapons license.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime/how-the-nra-attained-dominance-in-the-gunshine-2288357.html?cxtype=rss_state