Publicola

Update on the Florida man on whom the stasi, er I mean the neighbors called the police because he had firearms in his home.
The people who reported guns in his home to the police were not his neighbors but bank officials. His home is being foreclosed upon & this article while being sensationlist dribble does include the details. At least some of the details about the man's financial condition.
He owes $16,500 on a $94,000 house. Not a small amount, but not a particularly large one either. Here's where it gets interesting: Hillsborough County Code Enforcement has a lein on his property totalling $26,400. That total climbs by $100 every day.

"Code enforcement supervisor Jim Blinck said Walters was cited for problems with his roof, the trim of his house and overgrown conditions on his property. Blinck said if the bank completes the foreclosure and seizes the house, that act will wipe out the county's code lien."

It's a shame journalistic standards seem to be as low as they are. The recent story is filled with implications that despite no laws being broken by his gun ownership he is still untrustworthy because of his reclusive nature. The headline still announces the "standoff" that occured on Feb. 17th. The "standoff" was due to the police not realizing the man wasn't at home. It'd have been nice to learn why the county thinks $100 is an appropriate response to take against a man for the condition of his own property, or if perhaps the foreclosure was because he refused to pay the county & couldn't sell the house or fight the county in court over the "fines". & of course any allegations of the bank officers over reacting when they called in the man's 'arsenal' were omitted as were any comments about the police over-reaction to the man's gun collection. I guess decent journalism just doesn't sell like it used to.