Opinion – Page 6 – West Boca News

Disallowing guns doesn't improve safety

Professor Randolph Braccialarghe; Photo by Chad Moulder

The issue is not guns on campus, but whose hands will hold those guns.
By Randolph Braccialarghe
The Florida Legislature adjourned without voting on a bill that would have repealed the law that prohibits adults with concealed-carry permits from possessing firearms similar to a concealed carry holster for 1911 holding a 1911 on college campuses.
The well-meaning but naive assumption behind the current law is that if we outlaw guns on campuses, no one will bring a gun to campus to kill people. And if an armed killer ignores the law and goes to a campus to kill, his victims will be safer if they are unarmed, including those who have had background checks and possess concealed-carry permits.

West Boca News likes to present all sides of issues. If any reader would like to submit a response, please e-mail to [email protected]. Comments are also welcome on this article and on the accompanying Facebook post.

Opponents of repealing current law – i.e., advocates of victim disarmament – argue that repeal would result in drunken, immature students shooting each other, something current law does not prevent. Current law only disarms mature adults who could otherwise stop a killing spree before it gets started. The issue is not guns on campus, but whose hands will hold those guns – criminals intent on mass murder, or responsible concealed-carry permit holders who could stop the slaughter. All responsible gun owners are slandered when compared to the psychotic criminals that carry out these horrific crimes. Only responsible adults should be allowed the rights to hold a firearm, and all gun owners should have secure weapon storage to ensure that only the right people can put their hands on firearms.
This reasoning has gotten students, faculty and others killed or wounded not just at schools and colleges – Columbine, Sandy Hook, Appalachian Law School, Northern Illinois University, Virginia Tech, Florida State – but also at other public places where, knowing they will face no armed opposition, mass murderers have gone to wreak destruction.
Some examples include: Luby’s Restaurant, Killeen, Texas, Oct.16, 1991 (23 killed, 20 wounded); Colin Ferguson on the Long Island Railroad train, Dec. 7, 1993 (6 killed, 19 wounded); Nidal Hasan at Fort Hood, Nov. 5, 2009 (13 killed, 32 wounded – soldiers are prohibited from carrying loaded weapons on military bases); the July 22, 2011, mass killings at a Norwegian youth camp (69 killed, 110 wounded); the July 20, 2012, Century Theater in Aurora, Colo. (12 killed, 70 wounded); the Sept. 2013, Westland Mall in Nairobi, Kenya (67 killed, 175 wounded); and the Jan. 2015, Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris (11 killed, 11 wounded).
For those who think we can remove all guns from campuses or other public places, perhaps the most telling mass killing took place on Nov. 26, 2008, in the gun prohibition advocate’s paradise which is India, where it is so hard to get a permit that even the security guards at the luxury hotels are unarmed. On that day a handful of terrorists invaded Mumbai, India’s largest city, and went on a rampage killing at least 166 people and injuring more than 300. Since the citizens were unarmed, it was thought that there was no need for the police to be armed, and so when the police waived their bamboo sticks at the terrorists, the terrorists shot the police. The next time you are investigating the brass versus steel case online, just be thankful you are not as helpless as the citizens of Mumbai.
These tragedies were made possible by the same wishful thinking that animates Florida’s prohibition of guns on college campuses. Just because we ignore reality does not mean we can avoid the consequences. It is time for a change.
Randolph Braccialarghe is a law professor at the Nova Southeastern University’s Shepard Broad College of Law in Fort Lauderdale. This opinion piece was previously published in the Sun-Sentinel. Professor Braccialarghe, a friend of West Boca News, gave us permission to republish it here.

The Criminals Win

West Boca News has decided we will no longer cover arrests. We have experienced too much harassment and we see a sentiment in at least part of the community that reporting on arrests is more offensive than committing crimes. Crime reporting has become a much smaller part of what we do anyway.
Fortunately for those who want to follow crime news, there are other sources. Our friends at Boca News Now cover some crime stories. And there’s a website that seems to report every arrest: Boca Busted, with a very active Facebook page. We have been using that as a resource for several months.
Other useful resources include the Sheriff’s blotter, Palm Beach court records, Broward court records, and Miami-Dade court records.
From now on we will focus on other areas that have been getting more response from our readers.

End Breedism in West Barking

Our community has long been afflicted with a serious problem dividing us. There is a widespread perception that certain breeds, such as Pit Bulls and Rottweilers, are dangerous. This kind of invidious discrimination must stop.
Here at West Barking News, we understand both sides of this argument. I myself was bullied when I was in obedience school. But contrary to what you might think, most of the bullying came from “cute” breeds such as Golden Retrievers and Poodles. It so happens that my best friend then was a Pit Bull, who repeatedly protected me from the in crowd.
Not only was he my best friend, but we went on to get married and have several beautiful half-breed puppies who are doing quite well. When you raise your pups right, they’ll respect others and behave. We are not defined by our breed.
So let’s move past breedism and focus on the issues that we all have in common, like hating cats.

Hit-and-Run DUI for Boca Del Mar Resident

PBSO deputies arrested Galen Kinsey (27) Sunday night after a hit-and-run accident. Mr. Kinsey stands accused of several offenses including driving while suspended, DUI, hit and run with property damage, and a probation violation. His reported address is in Boca Del Mar near the Boca Raton Synagogue.
Mr. Kinsey previously appeared in West Boca News in February of 2014 for drug charges, where we detailed some of his criminal history.

Court records for Palm Beach show a 2012 felony that was resolved with pre-trial diversion. Broward records show a few cases including two disposed with probation. One of the previous cases also involved drugs.

Kinsey has managed to add a bit to that since then. In July of last year he was arrested on felony charges of burglary and grand theft dating back to a 2013 incident that may have involved the Apple store at Town Center Mall. The burglary charge was dropped and he was convicted of grand theft. For that he was sentenced to a year of probation, a violation of which has been triggered by the new arrest.
Kinsey also had two other criminal traffic cases in October and December. The October case was for leaving the scene of a property damage accident. He was convicted of that and paid fines but had no other consequences. Then in December he was charged with driving while suspended or revoked. That case is still open. He didn’t show up for court and a warrant was issued for his arrest in January. He’s had driving while suspended charges in Broward as well.
This history of repeated arrests for hit-and-run and for driving while suspended with little or no consequences should remind readers of the Brett Knowles case we’ve been following. State Attorney Aronberg has been persistent and willful in letting these offenders off, sending the wrong message to bad drivers in our community. Kinsey is yet another in a long list of people who have been repeatedly let off light and then continue to break the law putting us all in danger.

Panhandling, Development, and the Aronberg Shuffle

The West Boca Community Council held its regular meeting at the Boca Lago clubhouse on Tuesday evening. A larger than usual crowd of residents heard from county officials.
President Sheri Scarborough, who is also chair of the Palm Beach County Zoning Commission, updated the audience on several changes in the works.
First, construction has started on the Rooms To Go expansion on the north side of Glades Road between 441 and Lyons. We stopped by today to see it for ourselves.

We asked inside and learned that the current 26,000 square foot space will be expanded by another 20,000 square feet. The project should take about a year. It has already been quite a while. We reported on the plans back in 2013.
Also coming is a 43-home development by GL Homes south of Eagles Landing Middle School. You can see the location on the image below (courtesy of the county appraiser’s website). South County Regional Park is on the right, and the property in question is on the lower left.

An old map of the plan, dating back to 2006 or before, is below (full pdf at bottom of this article). It’s called the Collier PUD (Planned Unit Development).

Ms. Scarborough also noted that the lights are close to ready on 441 just south of Glades Road, between Sports Authority and the Westwinds Plaza (Publix and Home Depot).
After the meeting was over we asked her about the proposed 300-townhome development on the northeast corner of Clint Moore and 441. She did not have any particular news about the proposal. The first hurdle that has to be overcome is that the property is in the “agricultural reserve.” Unlike most ag-reserve properties, however, Scarborough noted that it is surrounded by non-agricultural development (The Oaks community, the Stonebridge community, and The Reserve shopping center). There’s a process they have to go through to get reclassified out of the ag-reserve but it seems likely to West Boca News that they’ll eventually get there.
County Commissioner Mary Lou Berger spoke next.

Ms. Berger spoke in depth about the panhandling issue and what the County Commission is doing about it. She was an engaging speaker, answering many questions from the audience.
First, she explained that something is in the works. The County Attorney’s office is drafting an ordinance which is expected to go before the County Commission in April. Once it’s reviewed at that meeting it should go before the Commission again in May and if all goes well it will be approved then.
Ms. Berger was emphatic that the ordinance is not limited to vagrants and panhandlers. It is a general ordinance that will affect anyone who tries to solicit or engage in similar activities in the medians of intersections. This is an important distinction and it’s very good that she is talking about like this. If it’s done the wrong way it will be held unconstitutional.
The audience asked whether it will extend to the corners and sidewalks, but that was not clear. She said the County Attorney is working on that language.
Next up was State Attorney Dave Aronberg, the prosecutor for Palm Beach County.

Mr. Aronberg was the headline speaker in the council’s notice for this event, which said he would speak about panhandling. He did not talk about that much, but focused more generally on what he called “quality of life” crimes. The most common crime that his office deals with is “DUS” or Driving Under Suspension. It’s sometimes called DWLS (Driving While License Suspended) and can refer also to revoked licenses or other license problems.
While Mr. Aronberg was mostly a pleasant speaker, his responses to questions presented a stark contrast with Ms. Berger, who answered questions directly.
Aronberg’s focus on suspended drivers opened the door to questions about a prominent case that happened not long ago on 441 in front of West Boca Medical Center. A driver hit three kids and then left the scene. A few weeks later the alleged driver, Brett Knowles of Boca Isles North, posted a picture on his Facebook page of the Geico gecko bragging about saving money on car insurance by leaving the scene of an accident.

West Boca News followed this case closely. Readers notified us in September that 441 had been closed and we went to the accident scene. speaking with family members of victims, contacting the Sheriff, and also Aronberg’s office. In October we reported that charges had not been filed yet, though we made no reference to the State Attorney in that article.
We researched the driver’s history in our courts and found quite a bit. Relevant to the issue of suspended drivers, Knowles was convicted of DUS (or DWLS) at least three times before this incident. There was a fourth case in Broward but we don’t know the results of that one. Knowles has had dozens of other cases including traffic tickets and drug charges.
In December, after getting a copy of the crash report from the Sheriff, we reported that Aronberg was stalling on the case. We noticed that Knowles had been ticketed again in October of 2014 for driving while suspended – while this investigation was pending – and that Aronberg’s office dropped the charge.
Shortly after that article charges from the incident were finally brought against Knowles.
In November and December we e-mailed inquiries to Aronberg’s office for a statement on the accident case and for the records from the dropped case. His office did not respond to either request. The refusal to provide records on the dropped case is a flagrant violation of the Florida Public Records Law (sometimes called the Sunshine Law).
With that background in mind, this reporter asked Aronberg about how his office handles repeat offenders on the Driving Under Suspension law. In particular the law (Section 322.34) allows repeat offenders to be charged with higher level offenses. A second offense can be charged as a first-degree misdemeanor with up to one year in jail. A third offense can be charged as a felony with up to a 5-year prison sentence.
Mr. Aronberg’s office, along with Broward, has repeatedly let Mr. Knowles off easy on these charges.
After he didn’t answer the question the first time this reporter asked him again about his office policy on whether and when his office charges repeat offenders with the higher level offenses provided by the law. Aronberg claimed that they do but provided no specifics. Our readers may have noticed that we frequently report on the criminal history of those arrested. We never see repeat offenders charged with the higher level offenses. This is not just a Palm Beach problem. Knowles’ fourth case was in Broward and was charged at the lowest level as well.
Rather than address the issue Aronberg then decided to attack this reporter. Along with his political consultant in the back of the room they accused me of being rude to their office and engaging in politics.
As a response to that bogus claim, my e-mails to his office are below:
November 21:

Ms. Cruz and/or Mr./Ms. Harris,
I write to inquire about the State Attorney’s position on the case of Brett Knowles. PBSO advises that the case has been forwarded to the Palm Beach County State Attorney.
Please let us know the status of this case.
Thanks,
Warren Redlich
West Boca News

Reply from Ms. Cruz (same day):

Good afternoon.
This case pertains to an active criminal investigation and is exempt from disclosure pursuant to Florida Statute 119.07(2)(c)1.

My reply (again, same day):

I’m not asking for records. I’m asking if the SA has any statement to make on the case. My question relates both to the pending investigation as well as Mr. Knowles past history.
And by the way I don’t see how there’s an active investigation. PBSO finished their investigation. It’s in the SA’s hands now per PBSO. So who’s investigating?
No need to reply until next week.
Thanks
Warren

There was no reply from Aronberg’s office.
December 3rd:

Ms. Cruz (and Mr. Edmonson?):
I just noticed that Mr. Knowles had a subsequent DWLS case in Palm Beach County: 50-2014-CT-023520-AXXX-SB, citation # A3B50ZE.
Court records show that case was resolved with a nolle prosse.
Please e-mail or fax (518-708-8752) me all records in the SA’s possession regarding this case. Also, please let me know if the SA has any statement it wishes to make regarding the decision to nolle prosse the case.
Regarding my previous inquiries you asserted that there was an active investigation. I don’t think you can make that argument with regard to a case that has been nolle prossed.
Thanks,
Warren Redlich

If the Sheriff’s investigation is accurate, three kids were hit by Mr. Knowles while he was driving on a suspended license. Had prosecutors held Knowles accountable according to the law, the accident wouldn’t have happened. Call me rude all you want. Aronberg’s blasé attitude toward repeat offenders makes us all unsafe. His disregard for the Public Records law is offensive for someone in the position of enforcing the law.