[rockrr]

"Law enforcement is going to start drawing their weapons and challenging these individuals, and something bad may very well happen," Coats testified. "I just ask that you take that into consideration."

I do every time I leave the house...

[neverdem]

Check the last link. I should have copied it. IIRC, the Florida Sheriffs Association said they preferred open carry when they were debating concealed carry in the late 1980s.

[109ACS]

We were discussing the same thing on the OpenCarry Forums.

Link here:

OpenCarry.ORG Forum

[bill1952]

I would ask him to take into consideration an entirely new field of work.

Seriously.- If the primary response of LEO officials is to start drawing on legal activity I would be concerned in an entirely different direction, namely that of protecting our lawful citizens from the Sheriffs.

and that is an entirely new thing under the Florida Sun.

[driftdiver]

Despite having never been arrested or even have received a speeding ticket the Hillsborough Country Sheriffs Dept made it very difficult for me to get my concealed carry permit. It took 5 trys for them to get my fingerprints on the background check card. That was 5 trips to the office.

Even then the State responded that the prints were unusable but by law they were limited in asking for another set of prints.

[tacticalogic]

"Law enforcement is going to start drawing their weapons and challenging these individuals, and something bad may very well happen,"

When the rest of us do something knowing that "something bad may happen", the law says we're responsible for the consequences.

[109ACS]

If some of you can’t believe that a Sheriff would say such an outrageous thing, here is the proof, a YouTube video of the debate in the Florida House of Representatives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ALgGpTMj8k

[GladesGuru]

OK, Marion - ‘fess up! Tell us how much you had to pay that jackass-in-uniform to get him to say that on record?

We know you had to bribe him, ‘cause nobody would say such a thing unless well paid.

I forgot, make that “nobody outside of a locked ward”.

;-)

[cyn]

FL bump.

[SJSAMPLE]

We have here the recorded and verified statements by a law “enforcement” officer who claims that he will “draw down” on any legally carrying citizen.

So, now that that is in the record, what happens when a citizen notices this officer and takes pre-emptive measures to defend himself?

[Joe Brower]

Florida Freeper

[Joe Brower]

[Dead Corpse]

How is this not Official Oppression and an overt threat of bodily harm with a deadly weapon?

Toss these a-holes in jail until they figure out where our Rights don't kowtow to their tyranny.

[Still Thinking]

Pinellas County Sheriff Jim Coates did, in fact, tell legislators that if the concealed weapons license reform bill (SB 234 and HB 517) passed that law enforcement would be "drawing down" on license holders.

Considerate of him to confess in advance that he's going to act against those who exercise their BOR rights, while they can still put a provision in the bill specifically prohibiting LEO's from doing so, with sanctions.

[Still Thinking]

Pinellas County Sheriff Jim Coates did, in fact, tell legislators that if the concealed weapons license reform bill (SB 234 and HB 517) passed that law enforcement would be "drawing down" on license holders.

So he thinks it's OK to draw on someone just because you have reason to believe they're armed. Hmmmm...well, he and his deputies work for us, so our rights are at LEAST as great as theirs in any given circumstance, and he and his deputies have been known to go about armed, so...

[Blue Collar Christian]

This mouthy sheriff is just BEGGING for trouble.