Hey – you’re not gonna fuck with our gun rights, are you? Guns and spring break go together like lilacs and crocuses.
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Panama City Beach Mayor Gayle Oberst said business owners informed the council that banning alcohol from the beach, where tens of thousands of revelers gather, would devastate business.
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Having multiple college student gunshot victims in your town can make the locals petulant. Panama City, site of the latest mass shooting, called an emergency town council session.
The meeting was contentious almost from the beginning, with [one council member] asking [another] what was the purpose of an emergency meeting and [getting the reply], “We have blood on our hands, and so do you….”
Later, after [a council member] said he didn’t want to see knee-jerk reactions to a shooting that “surprised” everyone, [another] challenged that statement.
“The shooting last night was a surprise to you, sir? … Can you honestly say that?”
“Of course it was a surprise; I was not aware of it until this morning,” [he] answered.
…. “We’re dealing with some of the worst of the worst of the worst [elements] in all of the U.S.,” [one townsperson] said. Some of it can be fixed, but the difficulty in solving the problem is “amplified by the fact that y’all hate each other.”
Here’s the deal, Panama City Beach-wise: What’s good for getting kids shot up is also, as it happens, good for business. You take the good with the bad in life.
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Shoot and the world shoots with you.
Saturday’s shooting was the sixth firearm-related call of the night, authorities said.
March 28th, 2015 at 6:58PM
Not a gun owner, I’m okay with a generous interpretation of the Second Amendment. My Mom once defended herself against a career criminal with a crummy .22 caliber revolver she’d bought mail-order pre-GCA.
As far as I know, gun enthusiasts–and I’m no expert–are pretty much okay with strong penalties for wrongful conduct with a firearm. Most gun enthusiasts–I think–know that the moment you produce a firearm in a confrontation, you’d better hope you’re within the law.
March 28th, 2015 at 7:31PM
Jack/OH: Yes, everyone’s fine with harsh penalties. So what?
March 28th, 2015 at 7:38PM
So, it would devastate Panama City if they got rid of spring break drinking. Well, any business premised on debauchery, rape, hyper violence, the huge waste of public resources needed to clean up after the little darlings, all paid for with increasing amounts of debt, should be shut down as soon as possible. Oh, wait….
March 28th, 2015 at 10:46PM
Maybe what Panama City and other gun rights advocates should recognize is that easy access to guns means far more suicides, and accidental deaths and injuries. These far outweigh any crime prevention effects (which are questionable at best).
March 28th, 2015 at 10:59PM
Anon: Yes.
The spring break gun situation in PCB has truly gotten out of hand. The PCB police chief has made it clear in various comments that his force is afraid for their lives because spring break brings large numbers of gun-wielding cop-hating career criminals to town. He has also said that no increase in police personnel – however large – would be enough to protect people from this influx.
March 29th, 2015 at 7:49AM
just sort of a micro version of the larger unfolding disasters like global warming, the very cognitive-biases that got the species thru the previous generations are now our undoing, too bad we are going to take out so much of the biosphere with us…
March 31st, 2015 at 5:41AM
Anon, UD: Those “gun-wielding, cop-hating career criminals” need to check with their P. O.’s. They’re already in violation of law by mere possession of a firearm.