Pistol Packers

By Cristina Garcia/Miami

Sylvia Stark, 61, had just returned to her home in southwest Miami earlier this month when she heard someone rattling the latch on the front porch. Before she could call the police, a brawny youth barreled through the screen door, grabbed her purse and dashed off to a waiting car. Two weeks later the still shaken housewife could be found at a local shooting range, carefully aiming her new Smith & Wesson .38 Special at the blue silhouette of a would-be assailant. Says Stark: "The robbery made me very paranoid, and I just want to protect myself. Next time I won't be afraid to use my gun."

Stark and thousands of other Florida residents are taking advantage of a law passed in April that will allow any adult with no criminal record or history of drug or alcohol abuse to carry concealed weapons. State officials have already been flooded with 14,500 applications for concealed-weapons permits; they expect 150,000 Floridians to apply in the first year alone. The law, which takes effect Oct. 1, makes Florida one of the easiest states in the Union in which to acquire a gun; eleven other states have similar laws. Moreover, a loophole in the Florida law also enables any resident to carry a handgun without a license as long as it is in plain view.

The prospect of pistol-packing hordes at shopping malls, sporting events and even Disney World has inspired a movement to tighten the loophole before it takes effect. "We want to bring Florida into the 1990s, not the 1890s," says State Attorney General Robert Butterworth, who is spearheading the effort. He has asked Governor Bob Martinez to consider an amendment to the bill during a special legislative session this week. But the Governor has decided to keep the gun bill off the agenda, and it is unlikely legislators will vote to change their handiwork during the regular legislative session in November.

Even if the troublesome loophole is eventually closed, many Floridians still fear that a boom in weapons could spell disaster in their already gun- heavy state. A recent study estimated that 60% of Florida's households contain firearms. Florida also led the states in violent crime last year, with 1,037 homicides, robberies and aggravated assaults per 100,000 residents. Critics contend that more firearms will mean even more violence. Says State Representative Michael Friedman of Miami Beach: "The message we're sending out is, 'We can't protect you anymore, so go get yourself a gun and do the best you can.' "

Many Floridians are planning to do just that. Thousands have signed up for firearms courses, a requirement for the concealed-weapons permit, and business is brisk at shooting ranges around the state. At the Tamiami Range and Gun Shops in Miami, classes have been booked solid since early June. "I'm just afraid of all the wackos out there," says Eliseo Santana, 29, a computer repairman who is applying for the permit. Adds August Zittel, a retiree from St. Petersburg: "I don't want to become another statistic."

Police are concerned that the relaxed regulations do not set minimal competency standards for using firearms and reduce to 48 hours the maximum cooling-off period for purchasing a handgun. Stricter criteria were required in some counties under local ordinances, which the state law supersedes. In Broward County, for example, gun-permit applicants had to pay a $500 fee, pass an extensive police check, complete a handgun safety course, have an approved reason for carrying a gun and undergo a psychological examination. As a result, the county had only 24 outstanding licenses for concealed weapons.

% Nevertheless, support for the controversial law is strong. Proponents of the bill point to states such as North Dakota and Vermont that have practically no gun restrictions and boast the lowest violent-crime rates in the U.S. Says Marion Hammer, executive director of the Unified Sportsmen of Florida: "People in this state are sick and tired of being victims of crime."