February 03, 2000
Yeehaaa! Good ol’ boys, and a few good ol’ gals, charged for the town meeting hall.
Nicotine mixed with frustration and fiery speeches outside of Hollywood City Hall on Tuesday night. Ooo-weee. Pickup trucks stretched fer as the eye could see.
Why all the fuss? Well, state legislators were hashing out the particulars on a bill that would allow Broward County residents to ban assault weapons.
More than 200 people packed the meeting hall, filled the front lobby, spilled outside onto the porch. Some carried signs. Popular messages included:
“What part of ‘shall not be infringed’ don’t you understand?” “Don’t make veterans felons.” “Never give up your gun.”
It was the kind of crowd that we sometimes like to dub as “yahoos” or “rednecks” or “extremists.” Who in his right mind could object to the removal of guns from our streets?
Well, there are two sides to every argument. While I am far from being a gun enthusiast, on some aspects I agree with the protesters. I grew up in Michigan, and that’s a gun-toting state. At 10 or 11, I saw a sticker that read, “When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.” My uncle, an avid hunter, explained the sticker’s meaning and asked if I’d want to live where only the bad guys had weapons.
“It’s our right to have guns,” he said with conviction.
So here at City Hall, where all this sexy talk about banning guns has folks up in arms, I ask myself, what sense does it make to force noncriminals to turn in their guns? Do we think the bad guys will say, “Hmm, I’m going to rob a filling station, but I’d better not use the nasty assault weapon. I’ll just grab my .38 special!”
I don’t think so.
The referendum would prohibit all assault weapons in Broward County. The bill states: “Assault weapon shall have the meaning of the term semiautomatic assault weapon … and the term large capacity ammunition feeding device.”
What the hell does that mean? Which guns are they talking about? A spokesman for the Broward Sheriff’s Office said naming specific guns was impossible because guns that are legal can be altered to become assault weapons.
My brother is a police officer in Michigan and a firearms instructor. When I go home in the spring, he’s going to take me to the range for target practice. He says he wouldn’t have any problem with a ban on weapons such as the AK-47. “When we tested it,” he says, “it shot through seven phone books, a police vest and a trauma plate and kept going.”
However, when I read him the language of the bill, he had a problem with it. “That description (of assault weapons) is too broad, too vague,” he said. He also stated that, no matter how the laws change nationally, locally, whatever, “I’m not getting rid of my guns.”
Several protesters at Tuesday’s hearing belong to gun clubs and shoot competitively. Many veterans feared the ban would mean turning in weapons they’ve had since active duty.
“I’m here because I believe I have the right to defend myself and my family and property against violent crime,” said Tom Naelon, of Davie. “Taking my gun away will not deter crime. It’s useless legislation.”
Charles Collie, 56, of Fort Lauderdale, used stronger language. “I went to Vietnam and fought for this government,” he said, “so I’m not afraid to fight them to keep my rights.”
State Rep. Debby Sanderson, R-Fort Lauderdale, was the lone dissenter among the legislators. She says back in the ’80s Florida had more than 300 laws pertaining to gun ownership. “It was a hodgepodge of legislation,” she says. “My concern is, if we start changing the laws in the counties, we’re going to create a hodgepodge again and we won’t have the consistency we have today.”
I’m skeptical about the logic of the bill. How will it be enforced? If gun laws are so protective, why aren’t the ones already in place enough? If the assault weapons bill makes it to voters, what other weapons might be next?
I’m asking myself one question: Do I want to live where I cannot be as armed as the cops and robbers?
Sherri Winston’s column is published on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. She can be reached at [email protected], or call Source Line (in Broward/Miami-Dade, 954-523-5463; in Palm Beach County, 561-496-5463) and enter category 8115.

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