‘Constitutional Carry’ Bill Introduced in Florida

Gun Control in Florida Costs Lives, Allexxandar-iStock-884197090
‘Constitutional Carry’ Bill Introduced in Florida, iStock-884197090

U.S.A.-(AmmoLand.com)- Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Court, along with sponsors from the House and Senate, introduced HB 543 Monday morning, a “Constitutional Carry” bill that Renner said gets “rid of the need for a government permission slip” to carry a concealed handgun.

The lawmakers were accompanied by Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis, president of the Florida Sheriff’s Association, and other Florida Sheriff’s.

The bill, which has also been described as “unlicensed concealed carry” removes the requirement for Floridians to obtain a Concealed Weapon Firearm License, or CWFL, before carrying a concealed handgun. The bill does not change the prohibitions or exceptions for open carry in the state.

“We don’t operate in a vacuum. What’s happening in our society now is Defund the Police 2.0,” Renner said. “I don’t think there’s ever been a time in my history on earth that we’ve needed the right to keep and bear arms more than now.”

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey thanked Renner and the bill’s sponsors for the legislation.

“This bill is an important piece of legislation for our citizens to have the ability to protect themselves. Criminals don’t go get a permit,” Ivey said. “Florida Sheriffs stand solidly behind this.”

Bill sponsor Senator Jay Collins, R-Tampa, an Army Special Forces veteran, described the legislation as a “monumental moment” and a “major breakthrough for our freedom.”

“My very first lesson as a Green Beret was that it is incumbent on each of us to leave things better than we found them,” Collins said. “We will take a monumental step to ensure that government does not interfere with a law-abiding citizen’s ability to protect their family.”

Bill sponsor Rep. Chuck Brannan, R-Macclenny, said the bill won’t change “who can and cannot carry a gun.”

CWFLs, he said, will still be available for Floridians who travel out-of-state and want reciprocity.

“People don’t have to carry if they don’t want to. This is a constitutional right people have,” Brannan said. “Criminals are getting guns anyway. They don’t care what the law says. We’re only giving law-abiding citizens a simple way to get a firearm. It’s only fitting that citizens of the freest state in the nation be given the right to constitutional carry.”

Read the Related: Why Did Florida Constitutional Carry Fail Again?


About Florida Carry, Inc.:

Florida Carry is a Florida nonprofit, non-partisan, grassroots organization founded in 2010. Florida Carry is dedicated to advancing the fundamental civil right of all Floridians to keep and bear arms for self-defense as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Constitution of Florida. In 2016 Florida Carry was named the Grassroots Organization of the Year by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

Florida Carry, Inc. was organized in order to better coordinate activities, effectively lobby the state legislature, and to provide a legal entity capable of filing suit to demand compliance with state and federal law. Florida Carry stands to represent our members, millions of gun owners, and the countless knife and defensive weapon carriers of Florida. We are not beholden to any national organization’s agenda that may compromise that mission. Florida Carry is the state’s largest independent second amendment advocacy organization.

Florida Carry, Inc.

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Stag

Florida is on the same rights plan as Texas. It’s viewed as a big gun rights state (the gunshine state) but in reality they have a lot of infringement and a lot of Republican Butters and Fudds who tend to enact more gun control. Liberty legislation is introduced every session and it always gets thrown in the trash. Every few years these Fudds pass some dumb legislation like this and all it amounts to is giving the peasants some morsel of their rights back so they keep voting for these Butters and Fudds.

HLB

The actual Federal Constitution does not tell you how to carry. For Florida to exclude open carry from your carry repertoire belies their intent to Infringe.

HLB

CinciJim

Thumbs up for a positive step toward restoring God-given rights to Florida citizens but personally, I think they should change the name of the bill. It’s misleading to call it “Constitutional” Carry, when it still does not legalize law-abiding citizens’ right to open carry as well. It’s more like a “Free Concealed Carry” bill. Open carry has been legal in Ohio for years. I’ve never practiced it, but it’s comforting to know that should I decide to do so, I can’t be arrested for it. I read an article a couple years ago about a man in Florida who possessed… Read more »

Montana454Casull

Good luck to the good people of Florida but Ron Desantis is a chameleon that denied people with CCWs the right to carry at his fund raiser . If you believe the clown is a strong second amendment supporter you better think again. He panders for votes with deception like most politicians. His action at his fund raiser speaks volumes about his stance on constitution carry . Beware Floridians he is a chamelion posing rattle snake !

Grigori

Plus, he is endorsed by the Bush family. That is not a good thing. People don’t want to believe it, but just about all high-level politicians, and some lower level ones, are being moved into place like chess pieces on a gigantic board. Some masquerade as conservatives with traditional values, but they are any thing but…

Hazcat

More lip service from DeSantis. That’s all this is.

gregs

this isn’t from de santis this is from the speaker of the house and some senators. de santis said he would sign a bill if they brought it to him. wait before you begin crying. we have been waiting for this for years but former rino senate leader sampson wouldn’t bring it up for vote.

Hazcat

If you think DeSantis isn’t behind this you are mistaken. He’s building his ‘creds’.

As for the bill it’s MEH. TINY step and to call it ‘constitutional carry’ is a joke. It doesn’t even cover accidental reveals, let alone open carry.

USMC0351Grunt

Did you actually read the entire bill?

TGP389

Desantis said at the end of his FIRST year as governor that he wished the legislature had given him a permitless carry bill. He WILL sign it.

Stag

Yet another bill people are calling constitutional carry that isn’t.

hippybiker

The problem here in Florida regarding open carry is, we get a lot of “Snow Turds” from the North East States, and they would get freaked out!
it’s an unfortunate “Catch 22” but our economies depend largely on the “Tourist Trade.” I wish it wasn’t so but that’s life!

Hazcat

Yeah, Arizona doesn’t get any money from tourist or snowbirds, right?

Disgusted

Arizona has maybe 1/10 of the tourism that Florida has. Florida is also about 3x bigger than Arizona is square miles. So yes, the state, many cities and smaller towns pander to them. It’s all about the $$$.

I too live in Fl, and would love to be able if I chose to.

USMC0351Grunt

Yet Florida has some of the BEST weapons and parts manufacturers, rents full auto machineguns and does a LOT on the open market that those going to visit a rat don’t see while visiting down there.

Last edited 1 year ago by USMC0351Grunt
Disgusted

The reason you won’t see open carry in Florida is because of the tourists and snow birds, they make up a huge portion of the state’s revenue. They all come down from states with stricter firearms laws and from Canada. This is only to placate to them so they don’t have to see those “nasty people with guns” while they are on their holiday. As for DeSantis not allowing CC at a political event there are 2 points. 1. DeSantis has no control over the security at these events, FDLE (Florida Department Of Law Enforcement) does. Just like the President… Read more »

TGP389

I live here in Florida, and that was my fist thought when I read comments about open carry.

Personally, I think open carry is tactically unwise, but I don’t mind if others choose it, but I think you might be right.

DDS

And yet housing prices in Florida are skyrocketing to literally obscene levels. I could not afford to buy the house I currently own. The flood of buyers driving prices out of sight are from those same places you listed.

So they are paying desperate prices to live here but wouldn’t visit?

Not sure how that works out.

USMC0351Grunt

However, if you are going to or returning from and while camping, hunting, fishing or to a gun range, you CAN open carry in Florida.

Last edited 1 year ago by USMC0351Grunt
Grigori

True, but how long do you reckon it would be before several cops pull up to hassle one doing so?

Last edited 1 year ago by Grigori
Bob

Can the blue line gang demand to see my ID during consensual encounters without RAS just so they can determine that I am not a felon carrying a concealed weapon?

Last edited 1 year ago by Bob
Stag

Can they? Yes, they can and they often do even now. It doesn’t mean it’s right, constitutional, or even “legal” but they do it anyways. You are not legally required to acquiesce to their “demands”.

HLB

RAS = “Reasonable articulable suspicion”

HLB

Last edited 1 year ago by HLB
jim13a

I guess what ticks me off is the title of the bill, this is not constitutional carry. What this is an attempt to make the politicians look good. It does not! Either we get true CC or nothing, this is not negotiable. This is just one more reason why I will not vote for Desantis for President. We have to hold their feet to the fire on this one.

USMC0351Grunt

They can always amend the bill AFTER it gets PASSED!

Stag

Exactly!

HLB

Either we get true (Open and Concealed) Carry or nothing.

HLB

Grigori

As long as they take nothing from you, I will always take anything good they give me. Like in SC, a year and some months ago, they opened up “open carry with permit”. No, it isn’t Constitutional Carry by a long shot, but it is an improvement over what we had before. Permission slips suck, but giving the common man and woman the chance to get a permit was better than it had been for most of my life, where only the politically connected, rich and well-to-do, and those with a business related “need” could get one. A step in… Read more »

Grigori

At least they are until your back is turned and the knives come out.

gregs

you can open carry when engaged in certain activities, but why would you want to open carry all the time. gives the bad guy an easy target to shoot first and have another firearm at their disposal while at the same time taking out a sheepdog. with concealed carry you don’t know who has what.
they are not removing the license requirement to conceal carry that will still be there for reciprocity, they are just removing the requirement for in state.
ridiculous? why is being able to defend yourself without possibility of getting jailed ridiculous?

Grigori

Since SC passed “open carry with permit” a year or two ago, I have not open carried once. That said, I am glad it passed. If I find myself wearing a suit and coat in hot weather, I now have the option to remove the coat and not swelter while eating in a restaurant on a 100°+ day, unlike a few years ago when I was in a similar situation. If I accidentally become exposed, no problem unless I happen to be in a GFZ.

Since open-carry with permit passed, I have only seen three citizens open carrying.

Grigori

As it should be! The carrier determines the mode that works best for them!

Desert Rat

After AZCDL pushed CC through the AZ legislature, concealed carry and open carry became very common in AZ. I never heard of one incident where an OC person was attacked by a hoodlum in the 10 years I lived there after CC enactment. While the hoodlums don’t seem to be the sharpest tools in the shed, they do seem bright enough to head on down the road to an easier mark rather than start a fight with an armed citizen.

Desert Rat

When I moved to TX from AZ in 2014, I couldn’t believe how retarded TX was in its CCW law and how wide spread the gun free zones were. To open carry you had to have a CHL so any type of carry was illegal unless you had your permission slip. It’s not much better now since they haven’t eliminated the gun free zones. The Republicans were as bad as the Democrats in blocking CC legislation for a long time.

Stag

This “first victim” myth needs to die a violent death. With all the states that have open carry and all the millions of people who have that option, if this were an issue then you would no doubt be able to find hundreds of news stories about it. The media would be foaming at the mouth to tell about it. Instances of open carriers being the first shot in mass shootings or any other crime is almost non existant and instances of them having their gun taken from them are extremely rare and often are due to very poor situational… Read more »

Desert Rat

I think you are giving the bad guys too much credit for being observant of someone open carrying. They are focused on getting the money from the cashier at 7-11 and are not really checking out the customers. I have been out walking in the summertime with a Glock 21 and 2 reload mags open carrying. While talking to some of the folks I pass along the way none of them noticed the monster until I pointed it out to them as I was asking them why they were not armed since I had had a carload of guys scope… Read more »

Finnky

Saw a couple fully rugged for CASS shopping in Sam’s club. Buckskin, hat, full get up. Didn’t see if woman was carrying, though I assume she was. Man had a pair of revolvers hanging out just like gunfighters in old-westerns. Didn’t seem like anyone else noticed!
if people don’t notice that, they’ll never notice a relatively small G21 in a reasonably discreet holster on person in nondescript clothing.
IWB fills my Glock with lint. If I ever find a nice OWB holster i’ll grab it. Silly me – assumed safariland would carry something.

Wass

In addition, non-Florida residents still will need a Florida issued concealed carry license, despite this new legislation. As someone visiting from a highly restricted state, this is not an issue, since the license itself feels like a breath of fresh air.

Last edited 1 year ago by Wass
Jaque

Its a baby step and better than nothing. No right should be taxed. No right should require a payment to be excercised ? For those who shit on Desantis, I suppose they would rather he had lost the election. A much bigger action would be for the Governor to protect all who possess braced pistols from the Biden KGB, and for the state to refuse cooperation with the ATF. Open carry will come to Florida. Although I consider it quite stupid to advertise to the bad guys you are armed by open carrying, It should be the option for all… Read more »

Stag

This “better than nothing” attitude is why these Butters and Fudds keep getting elected and why Florida will never have true constitutional carry. These traitors throw some morsel of rights back to the peasants every few years to keep you from seeing what they really are and throwing them out on their asses.

USMC0351Grunt

You mean like all those Butters and Fudds that still have all the brown stuff all over their faces following LaPierre’s assistance in creating the ’68 GCA?

Stag

Well, in all fairness, Wayne didn’t join the NRA until 1977 but if you know something I don’t about him and the GCA then I would love to see that evidence. But, yes, that statement very much applies to Wayne supporters.

gregs

the federal government does it all the time. you expect the states to not attempt the same thing?

Stag

There is nothing “stupid” about open carrying. The VAST majority of people will never see that gun on your hip and the instances of someone being the “first victim” are almost non-existent. Given that most states have some form of open carry and all the millions of people who have that option, instances where someone has had their gun taken from them are also incredibly few and is almost always a result of very poor situational awareness and bad choice of holster.

https://dailycaller.com/2015/04/22/the-pro-liberty-choice-dispelling-the-myths-of-open-carry/

grant

The loudest complainers about no open-carry are the ones who want to go to WallyMart with their tricked out AR15 hanging between their legs banging against their jewels.
I absolutely believe everyone who wants to (and can legally) carry should be able to. I lived here when there was open carry, pre-1985.
Nothing wrong with keeping said carry to concealable handguns. 
Unless you like walking around with a great big bullseye on the back your head.

KenW

People do not realize that gun owners or should I post stupid gun owners started parading around with their pistols on “Look at me, look at me!” and within days of the “shall issue” legislation open carry was banned.

Contrary to popular belief here on Ammoland the general public does not want to see your freaking gun. There’s a time and a place for everything especially open carry.

Only a few states have actual “Constitutional Carry” and quite a few states require a permit to open carry, so the 25 states with CC is not a factual comment.

moe mensale

I was living in Florida in 1986 when “shall issue” became law. There were no “stupid gun owners started parading around with their pistols on “Look at me, look at me!”” Janet Reno was the Assistant State Attorney for Dade County at that time. She was pissed that Dade County’s ban on open carrying was invalidated by the “shall issue” legislation. She and a group of Sheriffs, Police Chiefs and newspapers got the legislature to close what they referred to as a loophole, ie, open carry. And of course, the NRA and Marion Hammer refused to fight back. Don’t start… Read more »

HLB

Mississippi and open carry daily.

HLB

Stag

There is no bullseye no matter how one chooses to carry.