Besides Jackson, St. Petersburg Mayor David Fischer, Clearwater Mayor Brian Aungst and Seminole Mayor Dottie Reeder got them. Fischer and Aungst said they lost count of how many they received, but they number in the hundreds. Some mayors thought the NRA took their support for the HUD pledge out of context. Who wouldn't support safety measures involving guns, they asked. The NRA declined to comment.
Mayors actually have little say about what weapons their police departments buy.
That decision is left to department commanders who understand their officers' needs much better than mayors do. Fischer said that, if asked, he would encourage his police chief to at least consider a gun maker that signed the code of conduct. Each mayor contacted was not moved into reconsidering support for the HUD pledge.