There’s much less to the story of more guns being confiscated at Florida’s airports than meets the eye
Excerpt: Over the past five years, the total number of firearms confiscated at Florida’s 20 largest airports more than doubled from 228 to 511, officials said.
Through mid-October of this year, 408 guns have been seized statewide, including:
-- 75 guns at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport, compared to 72 in all of last year,
-- 28 guns at Miami International Airport, down from 52 last year,
-- 23 guns at Palm Beach International Airport, compared to 32 last year,
-- 99 guns at Orlando International Airport, up from 94 in all of 2017, leading the state.
Bottom Line: To the credit of the writer of this story at the Sentinel, he didn’t sensationalize the gun confiscations the way I’ve seen by others but the fact that this is a story that’s attracting the level of attention that it is, is also highly misleading. I’ve found that to the uninitiated, who are fearful of the idea of a gun, let alone the possessing of one, they think all of these people are out to do something evil. That’s not the case and this is completely explainable. This excerpt from one of my stories in May explains everything you need to know.
Florida's crime rate is at a 47-year low. This while Florida's concealed carry permits are at record highs along with gun ownership generally. Florida now leads the country with 1.78 million concealed carry permitted holders. That's 500,000 more than the 2nd closest state! What's happened over the previous ten years? The same ten years that crime declined every year in our state? A 256% increase in permits.
So, Florida leads the country in concealed carry permitted holders and we’ve had rapid growth in permits along with decreasing crime rates. This may seem odd for those who’re afraid of guns but when you carry, it’s nearly as normal as putting your wallet in your pocket. For that reason, it actually requires extra thought, to break the routine when you enter an airport to ensure you’re not carrying when you’re going through security.
That's what really goes on here. More people carrying and the increased opportunity for people to forget to disarm when traveling. Add in an effort to improve security checks in recent years and there you go. In the meantime, enjoy the lower crime rate that’s in part related to the proliferation of legal ownership.
Photo by: George Frey/Getty Images