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A controversial bill filed for the upcoming legislative session would allow Floridians to openly carry firearms in the state, and it’s received scrutiny from both sides of the aisle.
The new measure would allow people to publicly carry a gun that is fully or partially visible.
Currently, open carry is a second-degree misdemeanor with exceptions for law enforcement and people hunting.
The proposal removes open carry bans in schools, colleges, and polling places.
Cecile Scoon, co-president of the League of Women Voters of Florida, opposes the bill.
“We’ve had a lot of issues in the state of Florida with people being shot and feeling very uncomfortable walking around.” Scoon told WMNF.
She said the bill will escalate fears of gun violence in the state.
“I believe in guns, but they just need to be used safely. We’re not saying ‘don’t have weapons and don’t protect yourself’, we’re just saying let’s all try to use them in the most safe way that we can.” Scoon said.
Florida Senate President Ben Albritton said he is against the measure, and police oppose it too.
The other measure is a proposal to lower the minimum age to buy rifles and other long guns from 21 to 18.
The age was raised after the 2018 Parkland school shooting that killed 17 people.
Republican state Senator Randy Fine filed the bill to lower the minimum age, but when it comes time to vote on the measure in 2025’s session, he won’t be there.
Fine is running to fill the Congressional seat to replace Mike Waltz — President-Elect Donald Trump’s pick for national security advisor.
17 Responses to “Open carry bill draws backlash”
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Scoon is talking from Both sides of her mouth seeing a gun doesn’t make it less safe and I agree your gun should only be used in life saving measures but rather it’s open carry of CCW doesn’t matter it should be the gun owners choice on how they want to carry plus I don’t believe an 18 year old should not be able to purchase a gun until 21
I don’t think they should drop the age unless they are with a adult I know when I was young we are had guns and we had guns in our trucks even at school but we NEVER thought of killing I was brought up if you shot something it was to eat it or protect you from it
Why is it, that the gun is the perpetrator, and not the person behind it. Misconstrued logic
Open carry is a big mistake. Especially for the untrained people and will probably have their gun taken away and have it used on themselves or innocent people
Why stop open carry? If a person is going to carry a firearm why not let it be seen so you know who has one. In states where open carry is allowed crime has gone down
What is this? An intimidation tactic? Someone with a gun AND intent to use it in a bad way doesn’t care about a bill. You won’t even see it if they’re not supposed to have it! This can’t be the wild west Florida style! We already have too much negative publicity and #’s!
Open carry deters “would be” crime people. As an older person, I would love to carry a gun on my hip.
I fully support the right to carry firearms on your person, but I oppose open carry. All it would take is one person strutting up and down a beach with a firearm strapped to their hip to scare off tourists by the millions.
With all the unstable people in our state we can’t have open carry I believe Randy Fine doesn’t have the people he represents. He’s a power hungry fool who kisses rich people ass
We should be aloud to have open carrier because if a person wants to Commit a crime and they see someone with a open carrier that person may not attempt to commit said crime.
Open carry . Everybody open carries there phones and kill people. Just learn how to use them properly!!
I feel open carry in the state of Florida is a good idea yes we’ve had a lot of gun violent but it had nothing to do with open carry. Possibly with open carry we can decrease the amount of violence because people can see other people carrying their weapons. Other states you have open carry have no more gun crime than we do. On the second part of the bill lowering the age limit I believe that to be wrong. People who are 18 years old still hasn’t grown up yet so giving them a right to buy a rifle at that time could be irresponsible. So 21 is a good age as long as they take some safety course before purchasing any weapon.
I’m all in favor of Open Carry as I come from states that allow it. However I don’t feel that it should be allowed in schools, or government buildings.
I am in favor of open carry
We should be allowed to open carry in Florida if we did there would be a lot less shootings
Terrible bill. Any law making guns more accessible and easier to go to, if an argument ensues, is a dangerous and unneeded law
My personal opinion is that is better you can see who has a gun that not conceal carry gun .
The state with open carry they are more safe states. Thanks