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Floridians told not to shoot guns at Irma

A Florida sheriff urged his citizens not to shoot their guns at Hurricane Irma.

A woman and child use a blanket as protection from wind and rain as they walk in Caibarien, Cuba, on Friday.
A woman and child use a blanket as protection from wind and rain as they walk in Caibarien, Cuba, on Friday.Read moreDesmond Boylan / AP

With countless Floridians choosing to stand their ground against Hurricane Irma, a joke Facebook event sought to get gun owners to gather early Sunday to shoot at the hurricane and send it scurrying in another direction.

Yes, the idea is idiotic. Most people understood it to be a little levity during a time of stress.

But not everyone. An astonishing 27,000 Facebookers said they wished to attend.

The notion that a lot of firepower could change the direction of a Category 4 storm was taken seriously enough by some that the sheriff of Pasco County, a little north of Tampa, made a statement to citizens to keep their weapons holstered.

Others were quick to play along.