With Florida set to surpass the 1 million mark for valid concealed gun permits within the next two months, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam on Tuesday made a point of defending the rights of Florida citizens to ensure their own personal security.
Florida has a strong tradition in upholding Second Amendment rights, Putnam told reporters in his Capitol office. The Florida Legislature has been very clear about that."
Putnams comments come in the wake of the publicity surrounding the mass theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., and a call by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for probable GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and President Obama to outline plans for more effective gun control in the U.S.
There continues to be an extraordinary small number of concealed weapons license holders who break the law -- (for the most part) they are overwhelmingly law-abiding citizens who wish to be given a concealed weapons permit.
Bloomberg has even gone so far as saying on CNNs Piers Morgan Tonight on Monday that police officers should strike until the federal government acts on gun control.
Meanwhile, Florida has 952,415 active permits for concealed weapons and is on pace to surpass the 1 million mark in six weeks to two months, Putnam said.
Putnam said he knows that the number of permit holders who violate the law is low. Since 1987, the state has revoked 6,234 permits due to criminal offenses, of which 168 permits had been revoked for gun-related crimes, according to state records.
Florida was the first state to approve the shall-issue concealed weapons law in 1987. Almost anyone who hasnt been convicted of a violent crime can qualify for a weapons license.
Since 1987, the state has issued 2.26 million permits. In that time, 15,500 applications have been revoked, 5,190 due to prior criminal history. The rest were due to incomplete applications.
The state keeps private the list of registered concealed weapons permits and the department is notified when an individual has a license revoked as a result of a felony conviction, Putnam said.
According to state records, a license can be revoked when a licensee has been found guilty of, had adjudication of guilt withheld for, or had imposition of sentence suspended for one or more crimes of violence within the preceding three years.
A license can be suspended when a licensee is arrested or formally charged with a felony; is issued an injunction that restrains him or her from committing acts of domestic violence or acts of repeat violence; sustains a physical disability that makes handling a weapon safely impossible or has been committed to a mental institution.
Because of a spike in permit applications over the past two years, with up to 50,000 permits being issued a month, Putnams office hired nearly 50 full-time employees to process the applications.
State legislators dropped the price for a permit from $85 to $70 earlier this year.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
