New St. Petersburg panhandling laws

A new law was passed last week banning anyone from asking for money from the sidewalk. It would be un-constitutional to ban one type of free speech so they couldn't just ban homeless folks but also the firefighters who raise funds for charity, and newspaper hawkers who are ,in most cases, trying to get back on their feet from extremely tough situations. The law was cloaked as a safety issue, that its too dangerous for people to be interacting with traffic, but its obvious that people are just tired of looking at them.

I read several articles about the ban this week and as I scanned through the comments I was shocked at the level of hatred that I saw coming from our community.

There was only one comment that I found in defense of the poor. Here are just a few of the comments:

"It's unsafe and since I drive a convertible, it makes me an open target. I keep a can of mace nearby because the next one that invades my space will receive a free eye wash. I'm sick of all of them."

"The bums just asking for money need to be done away with."

"Locking up the beggars and giving them free room and board is not the solution. Unless, they are put in work camps. See how soon they would leave the area."

"Speaking of Sarasota, was there yesterday and only saw one bum. How refreshing."

"Start hosing them with pepper spray when they come to your window. Once it happens a few times they will get the message and move on. Prolbem solved."

"In DC they are not allowed to approach or touch you and they don't. The just sit there. A bum touches someone in DC and they are beat by the individual and/or the cops and jailed... period."

"A few years back a derelict was standing at the corner with one of those 'will work for food' cardboard signs. It was a very hot day and decided to see if the smelly vagrant would really 'work' for his keep. I rolled my window down and told him I'd give him $5 bucks if got down and gave me 50 push-ups. I pulled around the corner and held up the $5 bill and he got down and got up to a dozen before he gave up!"

"Throw change out the window into traffic."

"Can't you people just make panhandling a capital crime and put them all to death? Come on! Show a little backbone."

"Y'know...I havent got a problem with any of them because I have the intestinal fortitude to refuse to give anyone (who isn't holding a gun to my head) my money. Why is it so diffficult to just say 'no' to a bum? It's just like feeding animals - as long as you give them something they'll keep coming back."



"All homeless should be euthanized. Put your FEMA Camps to good use Mr. Obama"

"get these peices of crap off the streets"


These are people. People with stories (most likely a story much more interesting that yours or mine), people with potential, people who are struggling with addictions, and most of the time they are people who are alone. Get to know a homeless person and treat them with dignity, you'll find that they're not that different from you, and you may be surprised to actually learn something from them. There is much more crime committed by business men in suits than by homeless, but this law may actually cause more crime by causing people to become more desperate for cash. Lets do whatever we can to fight for equal rights for our brothers and sisters on the street.

Give hope, give love, give peace.