A Florida Reporter 'Understands'

Kudos to Vicki Crawford at the Naples Daily News in southwest Florida. In her blog she has come to the defense of the Second Amendment, and has the following to say:

"And when Mr. Citizen becomes a homicide statistic, as far as I'm concerned, the folks that wanted such gun controls are as guilty of the man's murder as the person who pulled the trigger. When someone takes away a person's right to self-defense then that someone becomes responsible for that person's safety. No ifs, ands, or buts about it."

Nicely written, Ms. Crawford. Florida is an interesting place. The Atlantic Coast of the state is populated by refugees from New England -- New York and Massachusetts mostly -- who have brought with them many of their "nanny state" ideals. The Gulf Coast (where Naples is located), on the other hand, is populated by many Midwest retirees and snowbirds, most of whom (not all, just most) have a more enlightened, more open-minded and rational view of firearms self defense. THEY DO NOT FEAR IT!

But a lot of those folks from the East are finding that this quiet gem to the west is a nice place too. Only they want to change it into what they left behind in New York and Massachusetts, and what they want to leave in the greater Miami-Dade region. So Ms. Crawford sees the future:

"What does a gun mean to me? For one, if things get bad enough it means that I won't go hungry. As long as there are woods, and I have a gun, I have food. It also means that my neighbors won't go hungry. A gun means that I can keep what I have including my life, my property, my freedom, my privacy. It also means that my neighbor can sleep well at night for what endangers me also threatens him or her. It means that I don't have to be a victim of anything. Unfortunately all I'm permitted to be armed with nowadays is pen and paper. I can hurl harsh language and inflict a few nasty paper cuts, but the way things are going in this country, here may be a future where I won't even be able to do that."

Without question, Ms. Crawford "gets it." Great writing. Read her entire post and pass it on. And if you get a moment, let her know what you think of her blog and this post.

h/t to Alphecca