Weapons and Firearms; Provides for construction of statutes that implicate right to bear arms or engage in self-defense; specifies that law enforcement officer may arrest person for unlicensed carrying of concealed weapon only upon probable cause that such violation is being committed; provides that person licensed to carry concealed weapon may also openly carry such firearm or weapon; provides liability for person or entity who infringes on specified rights; provides exception; provides that certain persons & entities have no immunity; revises legislative findings concerning possession & carrying of weapons & firearms; revises provisions concerning construction of provisions.
Source: House Bill 0163 (2016) – The Florida Senate
Introduced by Sen Dan Gaetz. Here is the text. Although the Open Carry sections is mouth-watering, I believe the most important and yet under rated part is Strict Scrutiny.
Moms Demand is already making a fuss about the Open Carry section. Expect them to be visiting our fair state soon…bodyguards included.
Howdy Miguel,
This is pretty spooky because I was actually debating someone on the Brady Facebook page about this and mentioned Florida. Minnesota’s carry permit law has from day one, never required concealment and as far as I can see, the sky hasn’t fallen. We did talk about it once here last year,
https://gunfreezone.net/index.php/2014/10/13/zomg-a-man-is-carrying-a-gun-legally/
As I remember, Minnesota’s law was written to not require concealment specifically to prevent prosecution for inadvertent exposure. And as often happens, I came upon an excellent example of why making the law subjective is a bad thing,
“The car he was riding in the back seat of was stopped and everyone ordered out. As he got out, Hueris raised his hands and told the officer “I have a concealed carry license, and I have a gun on me.” This is exactly what law enforcement asks that law-abiding concealed carriers do when stopped by police.
When he raised his hands above his head, his shirt rode up exposing his properly holstered handgun. The gun was only exposed because he raised his hands to surrender to the officer and inform him that he was armed. He was arrested and prosecuted months after SB234 was passed clarifying that “brief” exposure is not illegal. The officer and State Attorney used that subjective “briefly exposed” language and the requirement that a licensee be “carrying a firearm in a concealed manner” in to justify the arrest and prosecution.”
http://www.floridacarry.org/flcinews/54-florida-gun-owners-still-face-arrest-and-prosecution-for-innocent-exposure-of-handguns
I’ve discovered that the main reason for the expansion of rights is due to abuses of government. For a long time people were ok with may issue permit systems until they began to notice the abuse of government discretion and fixed it with shall issue laws so that everyone follows the same rules.
Cant handle using common sense in requirements to conceal, then the people will fix it by removing the requirement to conceal. The great majority will continue to conceal, but without the stress of worrying about arrest and prosecution if you accidentally expose your weapon in front of the wrong cop.
Sorry I rambled, take care.
“provides that certain persons & entities have no immunity;”
Getting rid of qualified immunity? Maybe if cops and their bosses were liable for their actions, the brutality would slow down. The immediate use of force when talk will work is what qualified immunity has gotten us. I understand that in some cases, force is necessary, such as a active shooter or to save someones life. But it needs to not be their first response for what amounts to minor violations.
I truly hate that you guys can put stuff like that into your laws and we more advanced, civilized, and intelligent folks cannot. Do away with the humidity and I’m on the road with a U-Haul – you can even keep the gators and snakes and skeeters.
stay safe.