Has there been any period in recent times where there hasn't been a surge in gun sales?
I ask that because I know since Barack Obama was elected five years ago, we've read repeatedly that gun sales were up because … well, supposedly because of the fear propagated by the NRA's Wayne LaPierre that the president was going to take away people's guns. I saw LaPierre speak at the Florida CPAC event nearly two years in Orlando where he said Obama had pulled one of the greatest cons on the American public, because if he was re-elected, then he'd start taking away "your guns."
Well, Obama was re-elected. And then Newtown happened. And guess what? Gun sales are up — in Newtown.
The Wall Street Journal reported today that more than 200 people in Newtown have received new local pistol permits as of July 24, compared to 171 permits issued in the Connecticut town in all of 2012. And yup, the Journal reported that "the rise in Newtown comes in tandem with a general upswing in gun sales nationwide and in Connecticut, which passed tough firearm restrictions after Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people, including 20 children, at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14."
During the discussion about guns earlier this year, we heard that the country was awash with guns, approximately 300 million of them. Do I hear 400 million around the corner?
In other news: Hillsborough County officials realize that they've got a problem in their Animal Services department. They allege it's mostly perception and not reality, but whatever; the fact is that all of the heavyweights in administrator Mike Merrill's office were present for the news conference regarding the parvovirus affecting dogs inside the department.
The push for immigration reform this year has led to unprecedented activism among Latino-oriented groups in the Tampa Bay area, but it's been quiet ever since the 4th of July break. Yesterday, local activists addressed a bill (almost unanimously passed) that Rick Scott vetoed, and that would have allowed undocumented immigrants the opportunity to get driver's licenses.
And maybe this story doesn't seem relevant to you (yet), but there is a proposal being discussed in South Florida that will raise the costs of copying medical records exponentially, a proposal being condemned by a variety of consumer advocates.
This article appears in Aug 1-7, 2013.