First appeared on FOX: Gun rights activists have launched a fight to repeal Florida’s open carry firearms law after the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature rejected the repeal effort.
Gun Owners of America (GOA) has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida seeking a court order to have the Gun Control Act of 1893 declared unconstitutional and to block its implementation. The law at issue makes it unlawful for “any person to openly carry any firearm, electrical weapon, or device.”
“Despite Florida’s reputation as a generally liberal gun state, it inexplicably continues to prohibit the open carrying of firearms,” the lawsuit, obtained by Fox News Digital, states.
“This blatant violation of the Second Amendment right to ‘bear arms’ runs counter to the historic traditions of our nation and criminalizes the very colonists who openly carried muskets when they rallied in the town squares of Lexington and Concord to fight for their independence.”
With DeSantis’ signature, Florida’s new gun rights law becomes a majority “constitutional carry” state.
Florida gun law books are displayed at a Top Shottas Guns & Tactical Supply store in Fort Lauderdale on June 29, 2023. Florida law allows people to carry concealed weapons without a state permit, but it went into effect on July 1, 2023. (Karin Jiang/Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Gun Owners of America’s argument is that Florida’s open carry ban runs counter to the history and tradition of firearms regulation in the United States, and it appeals directly to the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022), in which the Supreme Court held that the right to carry a firearm in public is a constitutional right and any restrictions must be within the nation’s “historic tradition of firearms regulation.”
Gun Owners of America points out that Florida’s open carry ban was enacted decades after Reconstruction and more than a century after the Second Amendment was ratified. “To make matters worse, the 1893 anti-carry law openly targeted only a disadvantaged segment of the population — recently freed Black people — while effectively exempting White people from law enforcement,” the lawsuit argues.
The plaintiffs also argue that Florida is both a historical outlier and one of only a handful of states that currently completely ban the open carry of firearms — the others being Democratic-leaning states California, Illinois, New York and the District of Columbia. “In contrast, the vast majority of states permit law-abiding adults to openly carry all types of firearms (both handguns and long guns) without requiring a permit of any kind,” the complaint states.
“Plaintiffs seek preliminary relief, followed by permanent injunctive relief, as well as declaratory and other relief, to remedy Florida’s violation of their enumerated rights that ‘shall not be infringed.'”
Kyle Rittenhouse has retracted his statement that he didn’t vote for Trump because he didn’t support gun control enough.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed the state’s constitutional open carry law into law. A DeSantis administration official said the governor supports open carry and is awaiting action from the Legislature. (Reuters/Elisabeth Franz)
The lawsuit comes after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a Republican-backed bill last year that eliminated the need for state residents to get a permit to carry a concealed gun. The law allows eligible citizens over the age of 21 to carry a gun without applying for a permit or paying a fee to the government. The law does not change who can get a concealed carry permit, and anyone who wants to get one can still do so under the law.
A DeSantis administration official told Fox News Digital that the governor supported efforts to include a repeal of the open carry ban in the bill, but state lawmakers were not on board. Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, a Republican from Naples, reportedly said at the time that she would not support open carry because the Florida Sheriffs’ Association (FSA) and other law enforcement organizations oppose the effort. Phoenix, Florida.
Florida Democrats and anti-gun control activists also spoke out against a constitutional ban on concealed carry, warning that making it easier to carry concealed guns would lead to more violence. The anti-gun group Everytown for Gun Safety called open carry a “dangerous policy” supported by hate groups, arguing it is “co-opted by white supremacists and turned against law enforcement and the public.”
Major Touré: Educating “the most vulnerable Americans” to “exercise their Second Amendment rights”
Kenny Wolfham carries a pistol during a “Moms Demand Action” demonstration protesting new Texas gun control laws at Buffalo Bayou Park on June 17, 2021, in Houston. (Mark Felix/AFP/AFP via Getty Images)
Second Amendment advocates have upheld Florida’s constitutional firearms possession law, but some, including the GOA, said the reforms fall short because they don’t apply to open carry.
“Florida lawmakers claim to be in favor of gun control, yet their year-after-year refusal to repeal the 1987 open carry ban has turned Floridians into a deeply anti-gun state, joining New York, Illinois and California, states where open carry is prohibited,” said Eric Pratt, executive vice president of GOA.
“GOA is left with no choice but to sue the state, especially since GOA’s open carry bill was blocked by Republican legislative leadership in the first week of the 2024 session.”
Click here to get the FOX News app
“This ban has no historical basis and will surely be found unconstitutional in light of Bruen precedent. We look forward to advocating and fighting for law-abiding Floridians.”
The complaint names St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson, State’s Attorney Thomas Bakkedahl and the State’s Attorney’s Office for Florida’s 19th Judicial District as defendants.
Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.
