Open carry gun law sputters in Florida Legislature, despite backing from DeSantis

ORLANDO, Fla. — Wrapping up a recent radio interview, Gov. Ron DeSantis hinted that Florida may soon loosen its gun laws even further, allowing for the open carrying of firearms in public places.

“You may get that in this upcoming legislative session,” he told the host Bob Rose earlier this month. “Stay tuned on that.”

But open carry isn’t getting much traction in the Florida Legislature, despite Republicans holding supermajority control and DeSantis throwing his support to the issue. One key figure, the new GOP Senate President Ben Albritton, said he isn’t on board, pointing to objections he’s heard from law enforcement.

Gun rights advocates are livid that their priorities are getting resistance in a place that has been dubbed the “Gunshine State” for its embrace of firearms.

“Senate President Ben Albritton spit in the face of gun owners after they sent Republicans to Tallahassee with a resounding victory on a pro-gun mandate,” said Luis Valdes, Florida state director for Gun Owners of America.

Last year, Republican lawmakers eliminated permit requirements to carry a concealed weapon for gun owners who are 21 and older and meet other eligibility requirements. But guns must be concealed and cannot be openly displayed unless the person is hunting, fishing or camping.

Asked about possible open carry legislation, Albritton said he has reservations.

“I trust my law enforcement officials and that’s where I stand,” he told reporters during an organizational session on Nov. 19.

The Florida Sheriffs Association doesn’t have an official position on open carry because a bill has not been filed, said Nanette Schimpf, a spokeswoman for the group. But Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, who chaired the organization’s legislative affairs committee, told lawmakers last year he is a “staunch opponent.”

Meanwhile, gun control advocates fear allowing people to openly display guns will lead to more violence and hurt tourism.

If open carry is passed, hate groups could exploit the law to display their guns in a public show of force, said state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando. Though private businesses can ban guns, public property near Orlando’s famed attractions wouldn’t be off limits.

“The last thing tourists want to see are neo-Nazis openly carrying rifles at Disney Springs and the streets of Lake Buena Vista,” he said. “Permitless carry has already cost lives in Florida. Open carry will make it worse.”

Guillermo Smith and other Democrats said a recent mass shooting in downtown Orlando is a prime example of the damage wrought by Florida’s lax approach to gun regulations. A shooter opened fire at a Halloween celebration, killing two and injuring seven others.

The 17-year-old suspected gunman wasn’t old enough to legally carry a firearm, but critics say Florida’s permitless carry law makes it difficult for police to screen for guns at large downtown events, which can draw tens of thousands of people.

Downtown revelers used to pass through security checkpoints to get into the city’s entertainment zone. But that screening ended because of the permitless carry law, Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith said at a news conference.

Because permits are no longer required, officers would need to conduct a time-consuming background check to determine if party-goers are eligible to have a concealed weapon, Guillermo Smith said. Furthermore, Orlando can’t outright ban guns on public streets and sidewalks in party areas because they aren’t included in the state’s list of gun-free zones.

That list includes places like schools, courthouses, airports and bars.

Gun rights advocates also have other items on their wish list for the upcoming legislative session that starts in March, including allowing guns on college campuses and lowering the age to buy a rifle from 21 to 18. Lawmakers raised the age after a 19-year-old shot and killed 17 students and staff in the 2018 Parkland school shooting.

For two consecutive years, the Florida House passed a bill to lower the gun-purchasing age, which wasn’t taken up by the Senate. Supporters blamed then-Senate President Kathleen Passidomo for blocking that legislation. Campus carry proposals have also stalled in previous sessions.

Albritton said the Senate would consider additional gun measures but added they should be treated with “real caution.”

Second Amendment groups argue permit requirements only put up barriers for law-abiding Floridians to carry a weapon for self defense.

Criminals don’t follow permitting requirements, and Florida is out of step with the much of the rest of the country in prohibiting open carry, Valdes said. Three other states — California, Connecticut and Illinois — prohibit open carry for all firearms, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control advocacy group.

“The Second Amendment doesn’t state it has to be concealed,” Valdes said. “It says people have a right to keep and bear arms.”

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