Gun advocates go to court to fight Florida's 130-year-old open carry ban; “a flagrant violation”

After legislative inaction, Second Amendment advocates have gone to court to overturn a more than 130-year-old law in Florida.

Although often referred to as the Free State of Florida, it was only last year that the Sunshine State became one of nearly 30 states in the union to allow constitutional concealed carry. Now, after the legislature countered Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' (R) support for open carry, Gun Owners of America has filed a lawsuit to secure their rights.

Revised per Fox News Digital, the GOA filing named State Attorney Thomas Bakkedahl, the State Attorney's Office for Florida's 19th Judicial Circuit and the St. Lucie Keith Pearson in her complaint seeking to have an 1893 gun restriction declared unconstitutional.

“Despite its reputation as a largely gun-friendly state, Florida inexplicably continues to prohibit the open and unconcealed peaceful carrying of firearms,” ​​the complaint said. “This flagrant violation of the Second Amendment right to 'bear arms' runs counter to the historic tradition of this nation and would have criminalized the very settlers who openly carried their muskets and gathered on the greens of Lexington and Concord to fight for its independence”.

The restriction was cited because it stated in part that “it shall be unlawful for any person to carry openly on his person any firearm or electric weapon or device.”

In addition to its claim that the ban violates the Constitution, Gun Owners of America argued that it was rooted in racism, and its filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida said: “To make matters worse, 1893 brought Prohibition. It only openly targeted a disadvantaged subset of the population: newly freed blacks, while whites enjoyed de facto immunity from enforcement.”

A statement from GOA Senior Vice President Erich Pratt said, “Florida lawmakers claim to be pro-gun, but year after year, they have refused to repeal the 1987 open carry ban, leaving Floridians to the anti-gun company of New York, Illinois and California, where this is also prohibited.”

“GOA has been left with no choice but to sue the state, especially since Republican legislative leadership blocked the GOA open carry bill during the first week of the 2024 session,” Pratt continued. “This ban has no historical basis and will surely be found unconstitutional under the Bruen precedent. We look forward to making our case and fighting for law-abiding Floridians.”

The GOA executive referred to the 2022 Supreme Court decision New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. against Bruen which struck down an Empire State rule that citizens must have “adequate cause” to obtain a firearms license.

Showing how Florida's open carry ban brought it in line with only a small number of Democratic-led states, the filing noted, “In contrast, the vast majority of states allow open carry of all types of handguns. fire (both handguns and long guns) by any law-abiding adult without a permit.”

“Plaintiffs seek preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, as well as declaratory and other relief, to remedy Florida's violation of an enumerated 'shall not be infringed' right,” the complaint said.

Staff writer

A native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College, where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and seeker of truth, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and dog, and when he's not researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel ·the.

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