The Sheriff’s response:
Sadly, things have reached an all time low. I NEVER made the statement Mr. Williams claims I made. He never contacted me before writing his blog so sadly he “reported” very bad information. The following is the email sent to Mr. Williams this morning.
Mr. Williams,
Based on our previous conversation I am not surprised you wrote this completely inaccurate blog piece. This is irresponsible “reporting” at its finest. You did not hesitate to call me previously so why did you not call me to get the facts before spewing this nonsense this time? Sadly, it absolutely mischaracterizes my statement and does a great disservice to all when junk like this is written. The Sarasota Hearld Tribune has stooped new a new low. This is not “reporting.”
Be absolutely clear, I have and always will FULLY SUPPORT every citizens right to carry concealed with a permit and to use whatever means within the law to protect themselves and their families. Nobody can point to any “fact” that contradicts my position on that because none exists. You can spin and misstate all you want but the facts remain the facts. Nonsense spewed by you is not fact. What I don’t want to ever see is what you don’t want to see and that is any citizen hurt because they are exercising their right to carry a gun. We need to ensure that whatever is done protects all citizens the best we can. I want to protect concealed carry permit holders and that was the discussion I was having with Margie Menzel.
If I said what you say I said then people should be concerned but it is completely false!! Seriously, I want to shoot concealed carry permit holders........? Why have we stooped to this all time low? Honest dialogue and debate are healthy and a foundation upon which this country is built and I welcome that....including any factual disagreement with my position. But this nonsense is plain wrong! Let’s raise the bar to civility in this process and to that end I hope you will correct the record with fact.
The Sheriff’s Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/bob.gualtieri?fref=ts
Very good to hear. It was hard to imagine a sheriff saying something like that anyway.
What do they teach in journalism school?
Or the sheriff made the comments but knew they were not recorded for proof and now denies them.
This is just a technicality, but Rights don't require Permits.
Carry on.