Killing

There are a bunch of liberals who are claiming that they are going to boycott Florida because of 'stand your ground' laws. The latest of these is Stevie Wonder, who is claiming that he will boycott any state that has a 'stand your ground' law. So Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming are all off limits? Does this mean he will shut down the LA radio station he owns? Will he avoid his home in Woodland Hills, CA? Or is he just another bloviating idiot who doesn't know what he is talking about?

 What many of the liberals forget is just how Florida got to where it is with regards to self defense. In 1993, a British tourist was shot and killed by a group of teens, the youngest of which was only 13 years old. The 13 year old offender had already been arrested 15 times, the earliest of which was when the teen was 8. Also arrested were two 17-year-olds and a 15-year-old, according to reports. All were charged with murder and attempted first-degree murder. Gary Colley, 34, died in the driver's seat. He had been startled awake by young black males demanding money. His longtime companion, Margaret Ann Jagger, 35, left a trail of blood as she called an operator from a telephone only a few feet away and screamed, "There's blood all coming out of his mouth, and I think he's dying."

Colley was the ninth foreign tourist that was slain that year. The killings generated sensational headlines in European newspapers and led to mass cancellations of Florida vacations. In fact, 1993 marked the year that Florida was declared to be the murder capitol of America. This was a trend that was long in coming. In 1989, there were 35 tourists killed statewide. The rampant crime was one reason behind Florida becoming a 'shall issue' state.

That was the Florida that liberals would rather have than the one we have today.

Floridians decided to DO something about it. Each of Florida's rest stops had armed guards posted or were shut down if they did not.

Tourists still get killed here, but not as frequently. Look at this case from Tampa (just ignore the fact that it was committed by young black males- don't be a racist). Florida's murder rate tells the story:

1988 Florida Murder Rate: 11.5 Nationwide Murder rate: 8.5
1990 Florida Murder Rate: 10.7 Nationwide Murder rate: 9.4
1993 Florida Murder Rate: 9.0 Nationwide Murder rate: 9.5
1995 Florida Murder Rate: 7.35 Nationwide Murder rate: 8.2
1997 Florida Murder Rate:  6.9 Nationwide Murder rate: 6.8
2000 Florida Murder Rate:  5.68 Nationwide Murder rate:  5.5
2005 Florida Murder Rate:  4.99 Nationwide Murder rate: 5.6
2011 Florida Murder Rate: 5.2 Nationwide Murder rate: 4.7

Florida once had a murder rate that was 135% of the national average. Within 5 years, the state was lower than average. Now it has crept back up to 110% of the average. The difference is that we aren't going to stand for it.