TAMPA (970 WFLA) -- State Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who's running for governor, says he continues to support the Stand Your Ground law. But he's open to technical changes that give law enforcement officers better direction.
"If there are adjustments... that provide clarification for our rank and file law enforcement officials who are having to make these decisions on the spot, I'm all for it," Putnam told 970 WFLA's Ryan Gorman.
"It's good for Florida. It's the right thing for citizens to be able to defend themselves, their families... and their property, and I will fight to defend Stand Your Ground," Putnam said. "If clarification, if tweaks, if technical adjustmentsneed to be made, that's one thing. But make no mistake... I will fight for our Second Amendment, including Stand Your Ground."
Putnam says he supports the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's decision to prosecute Michael Drejka, who shot Markeis McGlockton to death in a dispute over handicapped parking.
Putnam's statement follows a year of attention over his stance on gun rights, in which he's been targeted by gun control supporters. He's been attacked for describing himself as "a proud NRA sellout" in a tweet, and for his agency's handling of concealed weapons permit applications. In the wake of Parkland, gun control activists even staged "die-ins" at Publix supermarkets because of the chain's longtime support of Putnam, who, like Publix, was born and raised in Polk County.
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