FLORIDA goes to Obama where modern concealed/carry started ...

[SteveM]

and it doesn't surprise me. Deer leap over mossy logs in Ocala Nat'l Forest, bass break the mirror water, orange blossom mixes with the rumble of the wind, and plain folk cherish privacy as much as family.

"If it ain't been tried it'll be tried in Florida."

[raimius]

1. Apparently

Florida voters are more concerned with other issues. Let's face it, a very small minority (1-2% of the US population) is licensed to carry concealed. There are much bigger issues for many, many voters than Obama's past stances on state CCW laws.

[SteveM]

4. Guns have never been the issue. Gun control is. (nt)

[ManiacJoe]

2. That it did, but

"where modern concealed/carry started" ???

[spin]

3. History of modern concealed carry...

In the United States the history of modern concealed carry started with Georgia. In 1976 that state's governor, Zell Miller, introduced what became the model for later laws. His effort was inspired by an NRA director and former border patrolman, Ed Topmiller. The heart of the law was that the job of administering the shall issue permit process was given to a non-law enforcement, elected official.

Georgia joined a handfull of other states allowing concealed carry, including Vermont, where no license is required; New Hampshire, with a 1923 law; Washington, which made issuance almost mandatory in 1961; and Connecticut, where in 1969 a Handgun Review Board was established to minimize arbitrary denials.

The Indiana Sportsmens Council, assisted by the NRA-ILA, passed a mandatory issuance law in 1980, then had to sue the state police and other agencies and elected officials into compliance.

A trend started, with CHL laws passed in Indiana, 1980; Maine and North Dakota, 1985; and South Dakota, 1986.

The national media ignored these until 1987, when Marion Hammer tackled Florida. The anti-gunners were horrified. Obviously concealed carry would turn Florida into another Dodge City. Blood would flow in the street. Fender benders would turn into firefights.

The fight was tough, but the Unified Sportsmen of Florida succeeded. The dire Predictions? A year later the president of the police chiefs association, who had opposed the bill, was asked if he had kept track of all the problems the law caused. "There aren't any," he said.
http://www.txchia.org/history.htm

[SteveM]

5. Oh, well, off by a few states and years.

[spin]

6. Florida got the publicity when it enacted CCW...

therefore Florida gets all the credit or all the blame depending on your side of the gun issue.