Opinion articles provide independent perspectives on key community issues, separate from our newsroom reporting.

Letters to the Editor

Gun-free zones not gun free for criminals

Déjà vu. I thought I was reading an edition of the Bradenton Herald from 25 years ago.

The letter from Paul Gale could have been written at the time Florida’s concealed-weapons law was being considered. The same terminology, verbiage and sentence construction was used in exactly the same manner to describe what would happen in Florida if concealed carry was allowed.

The blood bath, the gun fights in the streets, gunslingers from Dodge City ... never happened.

It’s time to stop the usual horror stories. The recent shooting at the Fort Lauderdale airport indicated a good possibility that a citizen carrying a weapon could have stopped the carnage. Gun-free zones are not gun free for a criminal.

Michael Harris

Bradenton

This story was originally published January 17, 2017 at 4:05 PM with the headline "Gun-free zones not gun free for criminals."

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