Florida leaders push to allow concealed guns without permits, training

TALLAHASSEE — Calling the right to bear arms “central to our freedom,” House Speaker Paul Renner on Monday unveiled a bill removing Florida requirements for a permit and training to carry concealed guns, an idea endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“Florida led the nation in concealed carry,” said Renner, surrounded by the bill’s House and Senate sponsors and Florida sheriffs, and now it is time for the state to remove that “government permission slip to carry.”

The legislation, which supporters call “constitutional carry,” would eliminate the need to get a license to carry a concealed weapon as well as the required weapons training that goes with it. If signed into law, as expected, Florida would become the 26th state to allow permitless carry.

Newly reelected by a landslide to a second term, DeSantis has said he wants to see permitless carry the law of Florida before he leaves office.

Senate bill sponsor Jay Collins, R-Tampa, said he was “honored to have Senate President (Kathleen) Passidomo entrust me with one of the major breakthroughs for our freedom.”

Critics blasted the proposal as unsafe.

“This is not constitutional carry. This is untrained carry,” said Democratic Rep. Christine Hunschofsky of Parkland, site of one of the most deadly school shootings in the nation. “Untrained carry does not make our communities safer.”

Changing a state law that’s been on the books for three decades should be “based on data and facts,” Hunschofsky said, none of which was presented at Monday’s news conference.

Instead, she said, the Legislature should be focusing on responsible gun ownership, which would include “universal background checks, safe storage, education, expanded risk protection orders, and regulating ghost guns.”

Opponents said permitless carry would lead to more violence and more crime. American Progress cited a 2022 study that showed states with permitless carry laws saw a 22% increase in gun homicide for the three years following the law’s passage. American Progress also said a 2019 study found that right-to-carry laws were associated with a 29% increase in firearm workplace homicides.

Renner, who represents Palm Coast, said gun owners are responsible enough to know the importance of gun safety.

“We trust people to do the right thing,” said Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis, president of the Florida Sheriff’s Association, whose membership supports the bill.

Orange County Sheriff John Mina broke with other sheriffs and said he opposes the permitless carry proposal.

“Permitless and open carry laws put law enforcement in the dangerous position of having to determine, sometimes within a split second, whether someone with a gun is exercising their rights, or intends to do harm,” he said in a prepared statement.

The Florida Police Chiefs Association has not taken a position on the legislation, said William Stander, a spokesman for the group. An Orlando Police Department representative declined to weigh in on the issue, citing a policy of not commenting on “pending legislation.”

With a supermajority of Republicans in both the House and Senate, the proposal is likely to pass and be signed into law by DeSantis, who has been eyeing a possible run for the presidency in 2024. Other governors who are potential White House contenders already have permitless carry laws in their states.

Their rationale is criminals don’t worry about getting a weapons permit before committing a crime, so why should citizens who want to protect themselves go through that process?

“It’s about time. Florida is making a huge step,” Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said.

The bill doesn’t allow residents to carry guns out in the open nor does it change current law that permits businesses to ban guns from their premises.

The NRA backed the proposal in a statement, but other pro-gun groups called on legislators to go further and allow firearms to be carried openly in Florida.

The National Association for Gun Rights is pushing for the bill to be expanded, said Brenden Boudreau, director of field operations.

“They shouldn’t be calling this bill constitutional carry,” he said. “It’s a version of permitless carry, but it’s not constitutional carry.”

Other GOP-led states have gone further in passing pro-gun legislation, which could be a factor for DeSantis in the Republican primary if he runs for president, said Luis Valdes, Florida director of Gun Owners of America.

“It is a step in the right direction and we’ll support the bill, but we think the bill could be better,” he said.

Floridians would still be able to get a concealed weapons license to show in other states, Ivey said.

Getting a concealed weapons permit requires a person to be at least 21 years old, pass a background check, complete a basic firearms training course and “demonstrate competency with a firearm.”

Since 1988, the number of licensed weapons carriers has leaped from nearly 33,000 to over 2.5 million.

It costs about $97 to $119 in fees to obtain the permit. Training courses vary from about $30 to $100. It takes about 50 to 55 days to process a concealed carry application, according to state officials.

An additional benefit for license holders is the waiver of the three-day waiting period to purchase a gun.

Under the bill (HB543) filed by Rep. Chuck Brannan, R-Macclenny, a person can carry a concealed weapon without a license if they meet the same criteria for obtaining a license: That includes being a U.S. citizen or permanent resident alien, being at least 21 years old, not having a physical condition which prevents the safe handling of a weapon or firearm, hasn’t been convicted of a felony or been found guilty of a crime relating to controlled substances within a three-year period, or hasn’t been found mentally incapacitated or committed to a mental institution.

They also must have picture identification on them whenever they are carrying a concealed weapon, and show it to a law enforcement officer upon request.

The bill also changes the penalty for carrying a firearm on school property without a concealed weapons permit from a third-degree felony to a second-degree misdemeanor.

Gun control advocates blasted the proposal, saying it will undo the progress made after the Orlando Pulse and Parkland mass shootings and remove basic training requirements needed to protect Floridians.

“There is no Second Amendment requirement to allow people hopped up on the latest Ron DeSantis brand of political hysteria being fed to them to wander the aisles of Publix with a gun they don’t know how to use,” said Brandon Wolf, a survivor of the Pulse nightclub shooting who advocates for stronger gun laws.