Citation:

CAITLIN O’KANE. “Florida sheriff encourages residents to shoot looters if they try to break into homes.” CBS NEWS. June 3, 2020. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-polk-county-sheriff-gary-judd-encourages-shooting-looters/

Summary:

The news was released on June 3, 2020, when the George Floyd incident triggered parades in some cities in the United States, some of which developed into violence. Polk County Sheriff Judd Grady said at a news conference that some people would bring crime into the community. He encouraged people to own guns and blow out criminals if there was a burglary. His speech caused controversy in the society. Some people praised what he said, while others believe that his words will increase the potential for violence.

Reflection:

People’s reaction to what Sheriff Judd said shows people’s different attitudes towards guns. The sheriff suggested that every family should own guns for their protection, because the police cannot protect everyone. We can imagine that if a riot suddenly happens, there are looters holding guns and trying to break into people’s houses. You can only protect yourself and your family by using weapons. We often see some shops being robbed on TV. Through the security camera, we see the shopkeeper taking out a gun under the counter to kick out the gangsters. This kind of crime happens suddenly. We don’t have the time and opportunity to call the police. So, if we don’t own a gun, we will be in danger. Guns are not the main cause of killing people. If someone wants to kill people, he can use any tools by any methods to do so. Guns are tools to people, like cars, we can’t ban the use of cars just because of frequent traffic accidents. The usage of guns depends on whether people abide by the law. We can’t prohibit everyone from owning guns because some people commit crimes through guns. This is unfair to most citizens. If people lose the right to bear arms, they lose the ability to protect themselves. If the criminal has weapons, but the citizens do not have weapons to defend themselves, it will only bring more innocent deaths and chaos to the country.

Quotation：

“Because the people of Polk County like guns, they have guns, I encourage them to own guns, and they’re going to be in their homes tonight with their guns loaded, and if you try to break into their homes to steal, to set fires, I’m highly recommending they blow you back out of the house with their guns. So, leave the community alone.”