My colleague, Rep. Val Demings, devoted 27 years of her life to serving and protecting the citizens of Orlando. I have nothing but admiration for her service and her deep and abiding commitment to her community. But I fear that she has misinterpreted and misunderstood Florida’s gun laws. In a recent article for the Orlando Sentinel, Demings wrote that Florida’s SYG laws “permit armed vigilantism,” and “increase violent crime.” She writes with emotion about the Trayvon Martin case — but neglects to mention that the Martin case was not a SYG case. She also mentions the shooting of Markeis McGlockton, which generated a massive amount of misinformation about Florida’s SYG laws in general. One must point out that SYG laws only permit the use of force if a person “reasonably believes” that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm. If you are being attacked, raise your weapon, and your assailant starts running away, SYG in no way makes it permissible to use lethal force. SYG is not a blank check for vigilantism — using force must be “reasonable” and justified.