CCRKBA Rips Tampa Mayor, Lauds FL Governor Over CCW Flap

BELLEVUE, Wash., May 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today lauded Florida Gov. Rick Scott for defending the rights of law-abiding gun owners by turning down a request from Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn to ban the carrying of firearms during the August Republican National Convention.

In a letter to Gov. Scott, Mayor Buckhorn asserted, "Normally, licensed firearms carried in accordance with the Florida statute requirements do not pose a significant threat to the public. However, in the potentially contentious environment surrounding the RNC, a firearm unnecessarily increases the threat of imminent harm and injury to the residents and visitors of the city."

The governor quickly fired back that firearms are protected by the Second Amendment. CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb applauded Gov. Scott's decision, and called on Buckhorn to apologize to gun owners.

"Mayor Buckhorn insulted tens of thousands of legally-armed Florida citizens who pose no threat at all to visiting Republican delegates," Gottlieb said. "You can't suspend someone's civil rights just because a political convention is coming to town. And to correct the mayor, firearms carried in accordance with the Florida statute do not pose any kind of threat to the public, and he knows it. He's a gun owner and he's got a concealed carry license."

The Tampa Bay Times quoted unidentified "Legal experts" who asserted that "in the highly charged atmosphere of protests around the convention, someone with concealed weapon could end up in an incident covered by Florida's 'stand your ground' law, which is fueling the controversy over a neighborhood watch volunteer's fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford."

"The mayor, the newspaper and those so-called 'legal experts' seem to suffer from the same paranoia," Gottlieb observed. "Buckhorn is a Democrat and accused gunman George Zimmerman is a registered Democrat.

"Maybe the mayor is confused about which political party is coming to his city," Gottlieb concluded. "Unlike members of his own party, Republicans are not afraid of the Second Amendment."

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