Florida Open Carry Bill Passes Committee

Ammoland ^ | 26 October, 2015 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Florida CS/SB 300 has passed the Senate Criminal Justice committee, 3 to 2.  Florida is one of only five states where the open carry of modern handguns is routinely banned in public places.  Texas passed a licensed open carry bill on 13 June of 2015.  It will go into effect in January.  The gun law reform bill that passed the Florida Senate committee still has quite a ways to go.  It would reform several aspects of the current law that have been shown to have deleterious effects over the last few years.  Here is a summation of the bill.  From flsenate.gov:

Weapons and Firearms; Providing for construction of statutes that implicate the right to bear arms or engage in self-defense; specifying that a law enforcement officer may arrest a person for the unlicensed carrying of a concealed weapon only upon probable cause that such a violation is being committed; providing that a person licensed to carry a concealed firearm or weapon may also openly carry such firearm or weapon as long as such person is in compliance with specified provisions; providing that a person or entity who infringes on specified rights of an individual may be subject to liability under specified provisions, etc.

The Orlando Sentinel noted that all the gun reform bills are moving in the legislature.  Maybe 2015, with an election coming next year, will show significant progress on gun reform legislation.   From orlandosentinel.com:

All of the bills are moving swiftly through the committee process ahead of the Legislature’s regular session, which begins in January.

Bradford County Sheriff Gordon Smith spoke in favor of the open-carry bill, saying he’d rather know who in a crowd is carrying a gun.

[marktwain]

Florida and South Carolina are the most likely states to reform their laws to restore open carry. If those efforts succeed, open carry would only be banned in California, New York, and Illinois, though it would remain severely restricted in some of the remaining "may issue" states such as New Jersey, Maryland, and Hawaii.

[vette6387]

“Bradford County Sheriff Gordon Smith spoke in favor of the open-carry bill, saying he’d rather know who in a crowd is carrying a gun.”

Sure sheriff, It makes it easier for your officers to know who to shoot first!

[PoloSec]

Those gunshot sounds you hear all around Florida, they are really liberal heads exploding, we need some noise relief so next Florida needs to pass legislation approving unrestricted gun noise suppression (aka Silencers) devices.

Florida has been kicking gun control freaks arse.

[jsanders2001]

> Texas passed a licensed open carry bill on 13 June of 2015.  It will go into effect in January. 

And I predict the crime rate will go down evem lower in Texas as a result. Gangbangers are a lot less likely to rob, steal or assault you if they know their a$$ is going to get shot. They prey on the weak and don't expect people to resist or try to kill them in kind...

[ken5050]

Well, seems like we’re also about to get a medical marijuana law passed also..should be fun...

[smokingfrog]

OMG. Floriduh is going to turn into the Wild West!

[smokingfrog]

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/10/23/rep-introduces-hearing-protection-act-steamline-purchase-firearm-suppressors/

[jimjamesjames]

ALL stares should have Constitutional Carry as in Wyoming and other states. Carry open or concealed, no permit needed.

[marktwain]

Here is an article discussing the Constitutional Carry states:

http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2015/07/me-governor-paul-le-page-signs.html