Yesterday, my congressman John Rutherford (R-Jacksonville, FL) attended Donald Trump’s bi-partisan roundtable on stemming gun violence in the United States.  The following is a transcript of his dialogue with Trump.

Rutherford: Know this, and you (Trump) said it, all of that (referring to other measures such as background checks) can break down and someone can go into a gun free zone and just kill at will.  Defenseless people.

Trump: You’re defenseless.

Rutherford:  So, number one for security from a law enforcement perspective, the only thing, and it sounds cliché, because it’s true.  The only thing that stops a bad gun with a gun is a good guy with a gun.  So you have to have those officers or some armed security at our schools.  The issue is, and we talk about, those are areas where there are no guns.  The reason I carry a concealed firearm everywhere (my emphasis) I go is because I don’t know where those gun-free zones are that I may be walking through at the mall or at the donut shop or wherever I might be.  So that’s why I carry a concealed; so I can protect myself, I can protect my family who might be with all of those around me.

Trump:  You’re not allowed to carry a concealed in a gun-free zone.  So what do you do?

Rutherford:  You can’t carry in those areas.

Trump:  They are the most dangerous places.  Gun-free zones.  It’s true.

Rutherford:  So that’s why I think we need to go back to the concealed carry issue and national reciprocity.

Huh?  Did a congressman who served 12 years as chief of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office just confess to carrying a concealed weapon into places prohibited by law?  And did Trump, of all people, remind him that might be breaking the law?  Welcome to the “upside down.”

His excuse?  “I don’t know where those gun-free zones are.”  I do.  And so does anyone else who has bothered to read Section 790.06 (12) (a) of the Florida State Statues.

A license issued under this section (referring to concealed carry licenses) does not authorize any person to openly carry a handgun or carry a concealed weapon or firearm into:

1. Any place of nuisance as defined in s. 823.05;

2. Any police, sheriff, or highway patrol station;

3. Any detention facility, prison, or jail;

4. Any courthouse;

5. Any courtroom, except that nothing in this section would preclude a judge from carrying a concealed weapon or determining who will carry a concealed weapon in his or her courtroom;

6. Any polling place;

7. Any meeting of the governing body of a county, public school district, municipality, or special district;

8. Any meeting of the Legislature or a committee thereof;

9. Any school, college, or professional athletic event not related to firearms;

10. Any elementary or secondary school facility or administration building;

11. Any career center;

12. Any portion of an establishment licensed to dispense alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises, which portion of the establishment is primarily devoted to such purpose;

13. Any college or university facility unless the licensee is a registered student, employee, or faculty member of such college or university and the weapon is a stun gun or nonlethal electric weapon or device designed solely for defensive purposes and the weapon does not fire a dart or projectile;

14. The inside of the passenger terminal and sterile area of any airport, provided that no person shall be prohibited from carrying any legal firearm into the terminal, which firearm is encased for shipment for purposes of checking such firearm as baggage to be lawfully transported on any aircraft; or

15. Any place where the carrying of firearms is prohibited by federal law.

Since you seem to have skipped this lesson in law enforcement training, I guess you also don’t realize you are guilty of a second degree misdemeanor  (Section 790.06 (12)(d)) which is punishable by up to six moths in jail and a fine of $500  (Sections 775.082 and 775.083 of the Florida State Statues).  I’m sure the Florida treasury would welcome your patronage.

One more question, Congressman.  By everywhere, does that include carrying a concealed weapon in the United States Capitol?  If so, here’s another law you may have overlooked.

In 1967, with civil rights and anti-Vietnam War demonstrations assuming an increasingly strident tone—including several disruptive protests from the House and Senate galleries—Congress passed a new measure stipulating, among other provisions, that it be made a criminal offense, punishable by up to five years in prison, to carry or discharge a firearm in the Capitol.  (Politico.com)

Strange.  I didn’t hear participants at the annual Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) conference chanting, “Lock him up.  Lock up him.”  Instead, in lock-step with the NRA, Rutherford is echoing those who want to arm teachers, calling for more guns, not less.  Congressman, before you start making new laws I suggest you try obeying the existing ones.  If you think gun-free zones are dangerous, just think what life would be like if everyone followed your example and created their own “law-free zones.”

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP