Tough experiences led FAMU alum to exercise gun rights

Robyn Mitchell, a FAMU alumnae and staff writer for the St. Petersburg Times, recently shared her very personal story about her decision to carry a handgun:

In my junior year of college at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, I had a roommate who never spoke to me. Only by looking at her mail did I know her name. We never interacted.

I spent a lot of time in my room with the door locked. When I went home for Christmas break, I bought a storage unit for my valuables because I was afraid she'd rob me. When I returned, she was gone, and I was living alone for the first time ever. The summer before I moved in, the house next door was invaded, and a girl was killed.

I was terrified.

That was the first time getting a gun ever entered my mind. But I'd never even seen one in person and was sure that 20 was not old enough to buy a gun. Twenty-year-olds aren't even allowed to drink beer, they couldn't possibly get hold of a firearm, right?

But in Florida, you can buy a handgun from a private person or a rifle or shotgun from a licensed dealer at 18. You have to be 21 to get a concealed weapons permit, and gun safety training is mandatory. "Permit holders are held to a different standard," my instructor said.

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