August 17, 2015

Honorable Members of the Florida Senate and the House of Representatives
The Capitol
400 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, Florida 32399

Re:

In support of HB-4001 and SB-68

Dear Honorable Members of the Florida Senate and the House of Representatives:
The Congress of Racial Equality, Inc. (“CORE”) is a New York not-for-profit corporation
founded in 1942, with national headquarters in Harlem, New York City. CORE is a nationwide
civil rights organization, with consultative status at the United Nations, which is primarily
interested in the welfare of the African-American community, and the protection of the civil
rights of all citizens.
I am writing to inform you that CORE strongly supports the passage of legislation in Florida to
allow concealed carry on college campuses; namely HB-4001 sponsored by Rep. Greg Steube
and SB-68 sponsored by Sen. Greg Evers.
According to government reports, the number of sex crimes reported on U.S. college campuses
has recently soared by 50% over the course of a decade. Furthermore, national crime statistics
indicate that an African-American female is more likely to be sexually assaulted and more likely
to be a victim of violence in America than her white counterpart.
Victimization surveys indicate that for both robbery and assaults, the crime is less likely to be
completed against victims, and victims are less likely to be injured, when victims resist with a
firearm. Federal studies indicate that where potential rape victims use weapons to resist the rape
attempt, the rape is rarely if ever completed.
Despite hysterical claims made by the opponents of laws to allow concealed weapon permit
holders to carry on state college campuses, the fact is that crime rates decline when permit
holders are allowed to carry on campus; including drastic decreases in the amount of sexual
offenses in the immediate aftermath of the passage of such laws. In response to an increase in
rapes, the Orlando City Police Department introduced a gun training program for women in
1966. The city experienced an eighty-eight percent drop in the rape rate the following year, even

 though rape had been on the increase in Orlando, in Florida, and in the United States as a whole
at the time the program was introduced. However, there were no similar drops in rape rates in the
surrounding areas and the drop in Orlando was far in excess of any one year changes in previous
rape rates. Of course, all of this is intuitive: rapists prefer their victims unarmed.
I would ask that you support HB-4001 and SB-68 and other efforts to allow law abiding citizens
for all races and genders to defend themselves from vicious criminal attacks.

Sincerely,
Niger Innis
National Spokesman
Congress of Racial Equality, Inc.
P.O. Box 264
New York, New York 10276