Posted on 12/14/2015 1:21:30 AM PST by marktwain
The push to reform Florida gun laws to restore open carry rights has gained significant momentum in the last few weeks. First, on October 5th, the licensed Open Carry bill, HB-163, passed the Florida House Criminal Justice sub-committee, with an 8-4 vote. Second, one day later, the Florida Supreme Court agreed to hear a constitutional challenge to the Florida Open Carry ban in the Norman v. State (Florida) (PDF) case. The Florida Sheriff's Association, using rather heavy-handed tactics, came out against the open carry bill in the middle of October .
Now the Florida Police Chiefs Association has said that it will support the open carry reform if some changes designed to protect peace officers are included. From new-journalonline.com:
A spokeswoman confirmed that the police chiefs' group had contacted the sponsors of the proposal (SB 300/HB 163), Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, and his son, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, who both say they're on board with the changes. "The police chiefs understand that momentum is building," association spokeswoman Sandi Poreda said. "And because of their concerns for police officers' safety, they wanted to go ahead and reach out to the bill sponsors and work on these amendments, which they believe will better protect officers."
The amendments have not been filed yet, but do not appear to be deal-breakers. They are reported to include four proposals:
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
I live in Florida (overseas currently) and have been following the presidential race so closely I haven't heard much on this - save for that imbecile sheriff who made those hysterical claims.
Good news.
Where did they go?
Fifty years ago there was no controversy about open carry. In fact there was no term for it. Some people carried guns. No one even particularly noticed. I carried a rifle on my back and a revolver on my belt on a motorcycle trip from South Florida to Birmingham and never got a second look. Fear of guns is a new thing in the Republic, at least in the Southland.
Janet "The Butcher Of Waco" Reno had a hand in it:
It wasn’t until the Clinton administration that open carriers were driven into hiding where I grew up.
It was nothing to stand around in the parking lot of the party store and compare new shotguns and rifles. It was nothing to walk into the local businesses with guns on our way out to the woods and nobody even blinked.
The second and third proposals are slippery slopes for abuse by the likes of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s office. The bill’s sponsors should consider revising the third proposal regarding immunity for officers conducting investigations to a limited immunity that can be challenged in a legal proceeding. In return, the association gets to keep the RAS criteria rather than having to meet PC criteria. This is the essence of legislative process. They should use other states’ experience as their leverage.
We have a pretty good Open Carry law in Virginia. Especially the last couple months, it’s not uncommon to see folks exercise that right in the malls and in public. (except may NVA:), but here in the Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania area, open carry is gaining momentum.
Rest assured that if these two are adopted they will indeed be abused by prosecutors and LEOs in the more progressive jurisdictions. No deal on these two. Let them go pound sand. We should instead be pushing for constitutional carry like Arizona and some other states have done.
2:Change "probable cause" to "reasonable suspicion" of a crime before stopping or investigating people openly carrying firearms
3:Including immunity for police officers conduct investigations allowed by law
“Reasonable Suspicion” is the current standard for stopping anyone, not just a gun carrier.
The immunities mentioned already exist for other areas of the law.
Perhaps law enforcement immunity should be dialed back somewhat, but I believe that the ubiquity of digital recording devices is solving that problem.
I can’t say I disagree with your assessment and opinion on Constitutional carry as practiced in other states. Assuming you live in FL by the nature of your comments, I would point out that FL has become Far South Bronx thus influencing how far legislation can go. This is especially prevalent in your LE community where some have created second careers after retiring from Yankee-land.
Open carry is likely coming to Florida. Then there will be only four states where open carry is banned
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It’s past time to “push” for Constitutional carry, everywhere in the U.S.
NY and Boy Cuomo are on the cutting edge of gun control. I wish the NRA would help us here, I' can't even buy ammo by mail. I need to drive 100 - 50 miles to find a hard to find caliber - thus wasting gas and polluting the atmosphere :)
One would assume that cops would prefer open carry as a way of knowing there are weapons out there.<p.I usually cover up when in Wal Mart and other places and then uncover when I exit the place. Happened to be passing a parked cop car one day as I was uncovering - noticed him looking at me and then he smiled and nodded as I winked at him. This is in S. MS. Haven’t had anyone freak yet but have has a couple asshats telling me how it’s natural for someone to be fearful at the sight of a gun - while they fearlessly ragged on me while my gun was in plain sight on my hip....when I pointed out that they seemed perfectly comfortable, they had no real comeback.
You are correct.
Open carry used to be the norm. Concealed carry was considered cowardly.
I think people should be able to carry however they think best for the situation at hand.
That's why I conceal in stores/establishments - not only as a courtesy to the establishment in case some nut case decides to make a scene, but because I won't be picked out by any potential bad guys.
When out in the open, I believe it is more of a deterrent to have it visible from a distance - folks more likely to pass me up in favor of softer targets.
There are always exceptions and situational awareness is paramount - if in a crowd, I usually conceal again.
I have nothing against open carry rights, but I think privacy is the best policy. Open carry rights might protect against persecution due to inadvertent printing.
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