The latest update in our little life and death saga here in Florida. This morning a popular radio showed at 102.5 FM, "The Bone," called young Mr. Carannante and offered a one year free membership to a gun range, donated by Shooter's World in Tampa, which is about 30 minutes away (much further than many local ranges). They convinced the kid to commit to tearing down the pile of pallets and sand. I called and spoke on air to the DJ Mike Calta, thanking them for saving our neighborhood. I also left a message for the GM of the commercial range.
However, we caution this only solves the immediate threat (assuming Carannante follows through and dismantles the "range"). I urged people to sign the petition. And please, urge you, to push this link out to your social media outlets and friends:
http://tinyurl.com/...
If you have not, even as non-Floridians, you can sign too. We can sort by state.
Yes, we here are all very much thankful this threat may soon be gone for us, but consider what this means: to people like this young man, a few bucks a months was more important than the lives of children, the peace and security of his neighbors, the sanctity of others' homes. He had asked the question on camera, "Who's going to pay my range fees?" so maybe all along this was about trying to get free range time, all about money, and never really about "rights."
Our association president Judy Ellis just called me and said she spoke with St. Petersburg Police Chief Holloway a few minutes ago, and his information was that Joey Carannante was going to accept the offer. They would continue to monitor the situation.
I'm told callers on multiple radios stations across the area have been talking about this a lot the past few days. Good. But, we need real action and we won't stop the pressure until the law is changed so no one has to live in fear of stray bullets in their own homes. This can only be done at the state level, by state legislators. We continue to urge Senator Jeff Brandes to take the lead because, as the petition pleads:
...No child should have to play in his or her own sanctuary of a home or its yard in fear of an errant bullet.
We offer this petition to you, our fellow Floridians, our neighbors, our friends, our families, because this danger -- as the law exists today -- exists literally at your own doorstep, and even inside your home, since locked doors and secure windows don't stop a bullet.
[NOTE: If you contact either the show or the commercial range that donated the membership, please be complimentary, even if it does not solve the wider problem.]