Citizens in Central Florida Offered Guns by Pro-Arms Organization
Coming off one of the most controversial trials involving gun laws in Florida history, an organization by the name of “The Armed Citizen Project of Florida” (ACP) plans on the dissemination of more firearms in the neighborhood of Sunshine Gardens in Orlando, Florida. Residents in the Sunshine Gardens generally don’t perceive their neighborhood of being particularly dangerous, and many residents are wondering why their neighborhood was chosen by the ACP.
The Umansky Law Firm, a criminal defense law firm located in Orlando, Florida, regularly represents individuals arrested and charged with gun-related crimes. Attorneys also regularly discuss the future of gun laws in Florida and how the presence or absence of firearms correlates with crime in that area. Orlando has been facing an increase in crime rates over the past years – attorneys with the law firm are ambivalent about how this will affect the growing trend. According to a report from Reuters on September 26th, citizens of Orlando are undecided about the offer for arms too.
With a tagline of “Defending Crime by Empowering Neighborhoods,” the end goal of the ACP is to arm volunteers in communities with free shotguns, ammunition, and training. According to their website, the ACP is “dedicated to facilitating the arming of law abiding citizens, and analyzing the relationship between increased firearm availability and rates. We are choosing mid-high crime neighborhoods in cities across America, and offering defensive weapons to citizens that can pass a background check, and that will take our safety, legal, and tactical training. The data that we collect will be used in the completion of a policy study that will measure the deterrent effects of firearms on crime.”
So far, some of the residents of Sunshine Gardens have expressed their disinterest in having a shotgun for their protection. The ACP currently has active chapters in Houston and Tucson and plans on expanding to cities located all over the United States.
Attorney William Umansky, founder of The Umansky Law Firm said, “It will be interesting to see if distribution of the shotguns will lead to more or less violence as there are certainly very good arguments for and against arming yourself in a nation of increasing violence.”
Though a gun hasn’t been given away yet for the Florida chapter of the ACP yet, the president of the ACP, Ron Ritter, has said that the response from other locations has been overwhelmingly positive.