Press Handout



Lately the words “guns” and “Florida” have been floating around everywhere and for all the wrong reasons.

Today, the Tampa Bay Times pointed out something...interesting. The Florida Strawberry Festival — which opens on Thursday and runs through Sunday, March 11 — allows attendees with a concealed carry permit to have a gun on site.

Jay Cridlin, this writer’s former editor and current Pop Culture Critic for the Times, pointed out that bottles of water or dogs are not allowed and then painted the picture better than I ever could. Here’s an excerpt from his story:

You can ride the Space Roller with a handgun. You can meet the Strawberry Queen with a handgun. You can stand atop the festival’s new $5.5 million concert amphitheater and look down on the stage, midway or basketball courts at neighboring Tomlin Middle School, all with a concealed carry permit and a gun you brought from home.

You should really read all of the story — including responses from festival organizers and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's office — but another interesting element of the story is the fact that the Times asked more than 20 of the festival’s headlining musical acts about the policy.

Only five acts (“Justin Moore, Jerry Lee Lewis, Lee Greenwood, Engelbert Humperdinck and Charley Pride”) acknowledged the inquiry.

“All were unavailable or declined to comment. None had changed their plans to play Plant City,” according to the Times.

OK. We’re guessing our readers have an opinion, too, so tell us: will the Strawberry Festival’s gun policy make you less inclined to attend? Chime in on Twitter and Facebook.

Read this story and then answer the question: does the @FLStrawberryFst's gun-policy make you less inclined to attend? https://t.co/vfRaDTMpzU — Creative Loafing (@cl_music) February 28, 2018



