The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "guns in Florida" ...
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Armed and Dangerous
WKMG found the State of Florida issuing concealed weapons permits to people who were prohibited by Federal and state law from even possessing guns because they were involuntarily committed by judges to mental institutions or drug-and-alcohol-treatment centers. The politically potent National Rifle Association and its allies have stifled any discussion in Florida about using public records to check on the mental health of the gun buyers. They claim the information is private, but this investigation shows how easily it could be done--if wanted to. This tape also looks at cases of mentally ill patients who have walked into public places like churches and opened fire to kill people.
Tags: TAPE; gun; National Rifle Association; NRA; mental; Florida; weapon; concealed weapon; permit; judge; mental institution; drug treatment; alcohol treatment; public records; mental health; gun buyer; privacy; concealed weapon permit; drug and alcohol treatment; psychotic disorder; concealed weapon permit holder; concealed weapon permit program; US Marshall Service; kill; concealed firearm; scheme; mental health record; health record; Florida legislature; gun control law; mentally ill; killing
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Concealed weapons in Florida
In a state that has the most number of liscenses for concealed weapons used, this investigation looks at who buys these guns in the state of Florida. As this report reveals, most often it's the people living in the suburbs that apply for these liscenses and that one in every 41 adults owns a gun.
Tags: guns; guns in Florida; gun laws in Florida; concealed weapons law; concealed weapons in Florida; FOIA
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Justice in Black, White, & Shades of Gray
In central Florida, African-Americans get longer mandatory minimum prison terms than whites accused of the same firearms crimes. The story came about thanks to a black defendant who complained that his race influenced his sentencing in a firearms case. After obtaining the appropriate database from the state attorney's office, Pipitone found this claim to be true as well as other implications of racial discrimination.
Tags: race; criminal justice; crime; courts; sentencing; judges; minimum sentencing; prison; corrections; attorney; lawyer; public attorney; racial discrimination; firearms; guns; tape; transcript
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Miami Cops
A Miami Daily Business Review two-year investigation into police criminality reveals "a deadly scandal at the Miami Police Department." The stories document "flaws and bias in the local system used to investigate police shootings." The series started in 2000 with investigation of the death of a 72-year old widower who was machine-gunned by police during a ferocious 1996 drug raid, and of the following $2.5-million settlement of the lawsuit brought by the victim's family. In a federal investigation, Miami officers involved in the shooting were later accused of "conspiracy, lying and fabricating evidence to cover up misconduct," the Review reports. The series also examines "Miami's costly litigation experience over the last decade defending claims of brutality and lawlessness by police."
Tags: indictments; Florida's public record law; crime; litigation; civil rights; SWAT; homicide; conflicts of interest; law enforcement; justice; Miami Office of Professional Compliance; wrongful death; false arrests; abuse
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The Kid Who Killed
"This story is about Nathaniel Brazill, a seventh-grader who killed his English teacher on the last day of school in Lake Worth, Florida. . . New Times staff writer Bob Norman spent weeks in the South Florida town where Brazill grew up; the resulting article shattered the honor-student myth and revealed the dark side of a very promising 13- year-old whose adolescent crises intersected with a cheap pistol. Most importantly, it helped answer a profound question that a nation was asking: Why?"
Tags: School violence; teenagers; guns; teachers
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Nathaniel Brazill's last day of school
Goodell recounts the events that led up to the shooting of middle school teacher Barry Grunow by 13-year-old student Nathaniel Brazill on May 26, 2000; Brazill reentered his school after being suspended in order to see a female classmate; the article examines Brazill's family history of abuse and other factors that may have contributed to the shooting
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No title (id: 10562)
US News & World Report finds that two researchers have reached different conclusions about the dangers of owning a gun. Prof. Gary Kleck, a professor at Florida State University says that evidence shows that people use guns to defend themselves successfully; Dr. Arthur Kellerman, a physician at Emory unioversity's School of Public Health says his studies show that guns in the home pose more danger to the ownets. The article examines both sides of the issue and surveys the opinions of Americans on gun ownership. Another article takes a look at the rise of citizen militias across the country in response to efforts at gun control.
Tags: Guns; Research; Crime; Brady bill; NRA