New NRA ad misses the mark
May 23, 1988
The National Rifle Association has kicked off a frantic counteroffen-sive in Florida with new radio commercials designed to scare every law-abiding citizen into buying a handgun.
Displaying its usual disregard for facts, the NRA asserts that strict handgun laws will punish only the innocent, because criminals don't apply for gun permits.
Wrong. In Dade County, one out of 15 applicants for a new concealed-weapons license has a felony arrest record. Since the new laws took effect, violent drug dealers, home invasion robbers and mental defectives have gotten legal gun permits—despite the NRA's assurance that no such thing could happen.
Under fire from angry constituents, legislators are fumbling around with a sham response—a whopping three-day waiting period. This won't accomplish anything, except to allow these wimps to slink home from Tallahassee and claim credit for a "tougher" gun law.
Meanwhile, it's been another typical week for handguns in South Florida. A 10-year-old Richmond Heights boy, upset over a bad school performance report, killed himself with a .357 found under his parents' bed. In Coral Springs, an investment counselor shot an ex-employee four times and then himself over a labor grievance.
The NRA ads imply that a pistol in the nightstand is all that stands between a free society and a criminal siege. Fear sells, and nobody sells it better than the NRA.
If you really want to feel safe and secure, consider the number of handguns that enter the criminal underworld every day. The NRA seldom confronts the issue of where these guns come from—the guns used to shoot at cops and store clerks and cashiers.
Guess where they come from. A sample from the last three weeks:
A .45-caliber handgun was stolen from a truck parked outside the Sunshine Medical Center on Southwest 72nd Street.
A .357 magnum was stolen from a man who was attacked by three assailants in West Dade.
A .38-caliber revolver was stolen out of a Chevy Blazer parked in the 24700 block of Southwest 87th Avenue.
A .38-caliber Smith & Wesson was stolen from an apartment on the 8400 block of Southwest 107th Avenue.
A thief who stole a 1987 Ford Bronco on Southwest 63rd Street also got a .357, which had been left in the truck.
A 9mm handgun was stolen from the glove box of a Buick parked at Westchester Hospital.
A thief who stole a Ford pickup on Northwest 109th Street also got a .38-caliber pistol and .22-caliber handgun, both of which had been left in the truck.
A .38 was stolen from a parked car in the 1100 block of Northwest 128th Street.
A 12-gauge shotgun and a .357 Smith & Wesson were stolen from a home in the 16000 block of Northwest 45th Avenue.
A .38 Smith & Wesson was stolen from under a mattress inside a house trailer in the 6000 block of Southwest Eighth Street.
A .22-caliber semiautomatic Beretta was stolen from a diesel repair shop on Okeechobee Road.
A .44 magnum was stolen from an apartment in the 17200 block of Southwest 9lbth Avenue.
A .380 was stolen from a home in the 19300 block of Southwest 117th Court.
Another .380 was stolen in a house burglary on Hammond Drive, in Miami Springs.
A .357 was stolen by burglars who broke a sliding door on a house in the 10800 block of Southwest 168th Street.
The big score took place in North Broward, where burglars broke into a tackle shop and swiped a MAC-10, a MAC-11 and eight handguns.
And these are only some of the cases reported to police.
Most of these weapons were purchased with honest intentions, and now they're in the hands of criminals. They will not likely be used for the lawful defense of life or property, but rather for crime.
For those who lost their handguns to crooks, the NRA's solution is simple: Go out and buy more. Call it supply-side gun regulation.
Burglars, thugs and stickup men couldn't be happier about it. Right now, the NRA is the best friend they've got—besides our state Legislature.