Some parents in Florida will carry guns while they trick or treat with their children to defend against the clown threat spreading across America.

“I’ll be carrying for sure, I’m not leaving to chance,” Kimberly Kersey of Palm Beach told Florida Today. “I’m terrified of clowns already and if one messes with me or my kids it’ll be to the hospital or morgue they go.”

Another parent, Pam Metz, will carry a baseball bat because she doesn’t have a gun. “Since I have no gun, I will be carrying a bat around on Halloween night,” said Pam Metz of Titusville.

Patrols will be increased across the country as it is standard for Halloween and not impacted by the wave of clown sightings. Sheriff Wayne Ivey noted that it’s a second-degree misdemeanor to conceal your identity with the intent to intimidate or harass anyone while “being upon any lane, walk, alley, street, road, highway, or other public way.”

Ivey added that deputies are looking out for any foul play.

Hopefully, you weren’t planning on dressing up as a clown this year.

“My 15-year-old wanted to be a clown and I told him no,” said Cassandra Closson of West Melbourne. “Just not worth any drama.”

Brevard County authorities say clown fears could endanger someone who is dressing up as a clown as a joke. Palm Bay Police Lt. Mike Banish fears that someone dressing like a clown could end up getting seriously injured.

“The problem is that someone dressed like a clown could scare someone and there’s a possibility, a possibility you could end up with someone getting shot,” Bandish said. “A person could think that they’re about to get robbed.”

One school district in Broward County has banned clown costumes all together. “While many of the clown threats in our community and across the nation have proven to be hoaxes, it is still best for us to continue to operate in an abundance of caution,” the district told parents.

A growing clown menace as been spreading across the nation since the end of summer. PJ media’s Deb Heine covers the clown menace beat. Follow her stories for the latest developments on the clown front.