Concealed Carry

Publix is allowing shoppers to open carry firearms in its Florida stores.The super market chain’s move comes after an appeals court decision in September overturned a 1987 law banning open carry. Attorney General James Uthmeier embraced the open-carry decision by a panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal as “the law of the state.”

From lockdown drills to updated security details, Lee County schools in Southwest Florida have started increasing efforts to maintain safety against active shooter threats, as educators and parents nationwide stress that readiness can save lives.

People with guns can begin carrying them openly on streets and inside businesses or restaurants where owners don’t object, from the Florida Keys to the Panhandle, the attorney general says.Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier clarified Monday the ruling by the 1st District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee – whose jurisdiction runs from Gainesville through the Panhandle. Uthmeier said the court’s ruling was effective “now,” but his spokesman said there was a 15-day window to exhaust an opportunity for an appeal that will never happen.

Floridians no longer need a permit to carry a concealed firearm, and gun owners are overwhelmingly opting out of the safety and educational training once required for a license.Firearms instructors are seeing a dramatic drop in student sign ups for such courses, which teach safety and explain the state’s laws about where and how gun owners can lawfully carry pistols and legally use them in self defense.

Effective this past Saturday, a new Florida law went into effect that allows adults who are legally able to carry a concealed firearm to do so without a license. The law includes various changes designed to bolster school safety, including providing additional money for school hardening.What the new law does not change are the venues where guns are not allowed.

The concealed weapons bill Governor DeSantis signed Monday will do away with a decades-old licensing process, which has included requiring that people undergo firearms training and background screening to carry concealed weapons. The bill will require people carrying concealed firearms to have valid identification and “display such identification upon demand by a law enforcement officer.”

Ahead of the 2023 regular session of the Florida legislature kicks off March 7, we get a preview of top legislative proposals, and what they could mean for Florida residents in a conversation with FGCU Political Science professors Roger Green, Ph.D., and Peter Bergerson, Ph.D.

Democratic lawmakers say the bill would eliminate the firearms-training requirement. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri calls current training requirements tied to the licensing process “meaningless.”

Republican state lawmakers have filed legislation that would allow people to carry concealed weapons without a permit.