With all the dead bodies up piled here it will put them off their fish & chips, escargot and sushi. Not to mention making it very difficult to walk on the beach.
Posted on 09/30/2005 4:18:10 AM PDT by brwnsuga
Fri 30 Sep 2005 printer friendly email articleFlorida tourists warned that locals could shoot them
ALASTAIR JAMIESON IT IS Britain's most popular transatlantic holiday destination, attracting more than 1.5 million visitors a year with its sun-drenched beaches, theme parks and wildlife. But Florida's £30 billion tourism industry is under threat from a campaign launched by a gun-control group which warns visitors they could be killed.
A series of alarming adverts, to be placed in British newspapers, warns potential tourists about a new law allowing gun owners to shoot anyone they believe threatens their safety. It means thousands of British families who travel to the Sunshine State are now caught up in the ongoing political row over gun control in the United States. The Florida law, supported by the National Rifle Association, was approved by the state legislature in April. The state's governor, Jeb Bush - whose brother is the US president - described it as a "good, commonsense, anti-crime issue". Critics call it the "shoot first" law and say it allows gun owners to shoot if they engage in a simple argument in public. Supporters call it the "stand your ground" law and say criminals will think twice before attacking someone. Previously, gun owners could only use their weapons if they first attempted to withdraw and avoid a confrontation, and were permitted to shoot threatening individuals only inside their home or property. Now they can use "deadly force" if they "reasonably believe" that firing their gun is necessary to prevent a crime or serious injury. The law also effectively prevents civil legal action by victims of such shootings. The Brady Campaign to Control Gun Violence, based in Washington DC, has pledged to "educate" tourists by placing adverts in US cities, and in key overseas markets such as Britain. "Warning: Florida residents can use deadly force," says one of the adverts. Another reads: "Thinking about a Florida vacation? Please ensure your family is safe. In Florida, avoid disputes. Use special caution in arguing with motorists on Florida roads." The Brady Campaign - named after Jim Brady, the spokesman for Ronald Reagan who was paralysed by a gunshot during the 1981 assassination attempt on the then-president - promises to also run adverts in French, German and Japanese newspapers. The campaign officers also plan to hand out leaflets on roads leading into the state. Peter Hamm, the communications director of the Brady Campaign, said: "It's a particular risk faced by travellers coming to Florida for a vacation because they have no idea it's going to be the law of the land. If they get into a road rage argument, the other person may feel he has the right to use deadly force." Tourism officials in Florida are furious at the move. Bud Nocera, the executive director of Visit Florida, said: "It is sad that such an organisation would hold the 900,000 men and women who work in the Florida tourism industry, and whose lives depend on it, hostage to their political agenda." The Association of British Travel Agents yesterday said the posters were "a matter of concern", but said there was unlikely to be a drop in the number of visitors to Florida. It said 1.4 million Britons made the journey last year, attracted by the weather and resorts such as Disneyworld and the Kennedy Space Centre. A spokeswoman said: "We would offer the same advice about Florida as we would any other part of the United States. As far as we are concerned, nothing has changed." More than 80 million tourists from around the world visited Florida last year, boosting an industry that accounts for one-fifth of the state economy.
Let them stay home an cower from their burgeoning gun crimes back in england. It seems when they banned guns...now only the outlaws have guns....funny huh.
Nail 'em at the baggage carousel! /sarcasm off
Gun control is hogwash. People should be required to carry a sidearm as they are their drivers license.
Crime rate will probably be on the decrease in Florida... So long as you're not a criminally minded tourist you're not going to get shot, and the icing on the cake is that you're also not going to get robbed.
Is there a bag limit????
Are you implying it should be open season on the "socks and sandals" species?
Hoplophobes.
Yes and this includes all Speedo's
The type of people that would not understand the beneficial nature of this law and decide, based on these prejudicial pieces by euro-weenies, to stay away, are exactly the type that we are better off without.
This is nothing but absurd hysteria. Unless the tourists are engaged in illegal activity, there is nothng for them to fear, everything will be normal. On the other hand, if they are engaged in criminal behavior that makes Floridians feel threatened, then they might want to re-think their visit to the sunshine state.
All this is is an attempt to wreck Florida's European tourists by making potential tourists believe that they are traveling backwards in time to the old west and gunfights at the OK Corral.
Ain't gonna happen that way.
You are bad!!! :-)
Brady & Company is obviously trying to hit 'em where it hurts. If they can cripple the FL tourism industry with propoganda then they figure FL legislators will be scrambling to implement gun control, which affects only the law abiding anyway. The Brits should be experts in how that works.
With all the dead bodies up piled here it will put them off their fish & chips, escargot and sushi. Not to mention making it very difficult to walk on the beach.
As long as we are on hunting regs, is there any minimum or bag limit?
Are we discussing an any sex season? If so, given the species, how is that being defined?
Glossing over entirely, of course, what Florida law actually says about when deadly force is justified. But I wouldn't expect the gun grabbing crowd to tell the truth about anything. The truth is an obstacle to their agenda after all.
Fact: unless said tourists are coming to Florida with the intent of committing a "forcible felony" on a resident, they have nothing to worry about from this law.
As a Floridian and a Gun Owner, I am Extremely offended by their S-T-U-P-I-D-I-T-Y in making such Air-Headed accusations or Falsities...at the expense of hard-working Florida Business folk & Tourist-catering Establishments.
Formatting is your friend...
IT IS Britain's most popular transatlantic holiday destination, attracting more than 1.5 million visitors a year with its sun-drenched beaches, theme parks and wildlife.
But Florida's £30 billion tourism industry is under threat from a campaign launched by a gun-control group which warns visitors they could be killed.
A series of alarming adverts, to be placed in British newspapers, warns potential tourists about a new law allowing gun owners to shoot anyone they believe threatens their safety.
It means thousands of British families who travel to the Sunshine State are now caught up in the ongoing political row over gun control in the United States.
The Florida law, supported by the National Rifle Association, was approved by the state legislature in April.
The state's governor, Jeb Bush - whose brother is the US president - described it as a "good, commonsense, anti-crime issue".
Critics call it the "shoot first" law and say it allows gun owners to shoot if they engage in a simple argument in public. Supporters call it the "stand your ground" law and say criminals will think twice before attacking someone.
Previously, gun owners could only use their weapons if they first attempted to withdraw and avoid a confrontation, and were permitted to shoot threatening individuals only inside their home or property.
Now they can use "deadly force" if they "reasonably believe" that firing their gun is necessary to prevent a crime or serious injury. The law also effectively prevents civil legal action by victims of such shootings.
The Brady Campaign to Control Gun Violence, based in Washington DC, has pledged to "educate" tourists by placing adverts in US cities, and in key overseas markets such as Britain.
"Warning: Florida residents can use deadly force," says one of the adverts. Another reads: "Thinking about a Florida vacation? Please ensure your family is safe. In Florida, avoid disputes. Use special caution in arguing with motorists on Florida roads."
The Brady Campaign - named after Jim Brady, the spokesman for Ronald Reagan who was paralysed by a gunshot during the 1981 assassination attempt on the then-president - promises to also run adverts in French, German and Japanese newspapers. The campaign officers also plan to hand out leaflets on roads leading into the state.
Peter Hamm, the communications director of the Brady Campaign, said: "It's a particular risk faced by travellers coming to Florida for a vacation because they have no idea it's going to be the law of the land. If they get into a road rage argument, the other person may feel he has the right to use deadly force."
Tourism officials in Florida are furious at the move. Bud Nocera, the executive director of Visit Florida, said: "It is sad that such an organisation would hold the 900,000 men and women who work in the Florida tourism industry, and whose lives depend on it, hostage to their political agenda."
The Association of British Travel Agents yesterday said the posters were "a matter of concern", but said there was unlikely to be a drop in the number of visitors to Florida.
It said 1.4 million Britons made the journey last year, attracted by the weather and resorts such as Disneyworld and the Kennedy Space Centre.
A spokeswoman said: "We would offer the same advice about Florida as we would any other part of the United States. As far as we are concerned, nothing has changed."
More than 80 million tourists from around the world visited Florida last year, boosting an industry that accounts for one-fifth of the state economy.
An armed society is a polite society.
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