The Florida Public Defender Association has decided to back a measure that would grant immunity to people who show or fire a gun in self-defense. It's the so-called "warning-shot" bill by Representative Neil Combee, a Polk City Republican. The bill would permit Floridians to display a gun, threaten to use it or fire a warning shot if they were being attacked and feared for their lives or someone else's.

The public defenders didn't back last year's version of Combee's bill. Now former National Rifle Association president Marion Hammer, already a supporter of the bill, says the public defenders' backing could be a game-changer."They are in a unique position of knowing exactly how often law-abiding people who have exercised self-defense are being prosecuted – and, in fact, persecuted in some cases", Hammer said.

The Florida Sheriffs Association opposed the bill last year, saying even law-enforcement officers can't fire warning shots. Last month the new bill passed its first House committee by a vote of 12-to-1.