Florida’s Phony Constitutional Carry Law

by
Norm Silber

The Florida governor running for president likes to tout how Florida passed “constitutional carry” legislation this year – under his watch. But a close examination of House Bill 543, and related laws that were unchanged, reveals that “constitutional carry” is illusory at best.

Open carry of firearms remains prohibited in Florida and constitutes a crime called “brandishing.”

You may conceal carry in Florida under the DeSantis “constitutional carry” law without obtaining a government permit or license if you are not a prohibited person. But the law did not change the fact that firearms are still not permitted to be carried, even with a permit, in any of the 15 places outlined in Florida Statute §790.06(12)(a), including most bars and lounges, any school, college, or professional athletic event not related to firearms; any meeting of the governing body of a county, public school district, municipality, or special district; any meeting of the Legislature or a committee thereof; any polling place; and any college or university facility (with only a few limited exceptions).

You can call it an expanded carry law, but it is not constitutional carry by even the broadest definitions.

Open carry (i.e. carrying on one’s person a firearm entirely or partially visible) without the necessity of obtaining a government issue permit or license has been the law of New Hampshire for many decades.

And while before February of 2017, carrying concealed in public required obtaining a pistol permit from the government in a relatively painless process; that changed dramatically on February 22, 2017, when the NH Governor signed a bill into law making New Hampshire the 11th state to have “constitutional carry” as a matter of law.

New Hampshire’s constitutional carry law is clean, pure, and straightforward. Unless a person is prohibited from carrying or possessing a firearm under state or federal law, they may carry a concealed firearm in nearly all public places without obtaining a government permit or license. You may not have a firearm, either openly or concealed, in a courthouse or in the sterile areas of an airport. And federal law imposes some restrictions on places where firearms are not permitted, such as post offices and a few other locations.

It’s not true constitutional carry, as in anywhere you have a right to be. Still, the bottom line is that New Hampshire has a more bona fide constitutional carry, while constitutional carry in Florida is a step in the right direction, but with a long way to go.

Author

  • Norm Silber

    Norm Silber is a New Hampshire & Florida lawyer & political activist living in Gilford.  He served as a NH State Representative during 2017-18, was again elected to serve in the House in 2021-22,  and is an active member of numerous politically-oriented advocacy organizations, including The Federalist Society, the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, the New Hampshire Firearms Coalition, and Gun Owners of America.

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