ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida officially allows open carry starting Thursday, marking a significant change in the state’s gun laws.
“Before this, there were only a handful of states, with Florida being one of them, that had a blanket ban on open carry,” James Phillips explained.
Phillips, a partner at The Firearm Firm in Orlando, explained that since 1987, Florida had prohibited open carry with some minor exceptions, until now.
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“So, the statute prohibiting open carry is gone,” Phillips said. “We had a case that came out of the first district Court of Appeals Sept. 10 that found that that ban on open carry violates the Second Amendment, therefore, is unconstitutional.”
The court ruling did not specify where people can or cannot open carry.
“This didn’t go through the legislative process,” Phillips explained. “We didn’t have a bill that was signed into law that said, ‘Hey, open carry has been revoked, but here are the parameters for it.’”
In Florida, no license is needed to own a firearm, and now, no license is required to open carry.
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“The only qualification that is out there is that you have to be able to federally have the capability of possessing a firearm,” Phillips said.
Florida law already bans carrying guns in places like legislative meetings and polling places. Federal law prohibits guns in places like schools, police stations, post offices and federal courthouses.
“What we advise people to do is somewhat abide by the prohibited locations for concealed weapon license (CWL) holders. That’s the safest bet until we get a little bit more direction. I assume there’s going to be a lot of legislative bills coming out relatively quickly to address prohibited locations,” Philips said.
Private property owners can prohibit firearms and ask people to leave. Failure to comply can result in felony charges.