Gun rights activists are taking up the fight to strike down Florida’s ban on openly carrying firearms after the Republican-controlled legislature rejected a repeal effort.
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is filing a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida that seeks to have the 1893 gun restriction declared unconstitutional and a court order to block enforcement of the law. The challenged statute makes it “unlawful for any person to openly carry on or about his or her person any firearm or electric weapon or device.”
“Despite its reputation as a largely gun-friendly state, Florida inexplicably continues to prohibit the peaceable carrying of firearms in an open and unconcealed manner,” the complaint obtained by Fox News Digital states.
“This blatant infringement of the Second Amendment right to ‘bear arms’ runs counter to this nation’s historical tradition and would have criminalized the very colonists who openly carried their muskets and mustered on the greens at Lexington and Concord to fight for their independence.” …
Plaintiffs also say Florida is both a historical outlier and presently one of only a few states that entirely bans the open carry of firearms. The others are blue states California, Illinois and New York, along with the District of Columbia. “In contrast, the vast majority of states permit the open carry of all manner of firearms (both handguns and long guns), by any law-abiding adult and without any sort of permit at all,” the complaint states.
— Chris Pandolfo in Gun Owners of America fights Florida’s ban on carrying firearms openly: ‘Blatant infringement’
I’ve never felt the need to advertise the fact that I’m packing heat although I do understand that it should be legal. You should never let any potential attacker know your capabilities. Just like in War the less your enemy knows the better for you. For those who believe open carry offers some sort of deterrent. While that may be the case for the less than determined attacker it also gives the determined attacker the information they need to simply shoot you up front then take what they want including your firearm, from your dead body.
Darkman, I agree for there is no need to advertise to the good or the bad that you are carrying. A local bank here that I do business with has a No Weapons Allowed sign posted on all entrance doors. I ask the bank manager about the signs and he said the bank’s main interest was for people not to carry open due to some feeble customer freaking out. He added concealed is concealed and doesn’t hurt anyone.
No need to be an obvious target. Older folk are at a greater risk considering age related health issues.
Carry concealed every day it’s the safest way.
I agree with your sentiments in general cases.
For the people who say that there is never a case for open carry, please counter these examples:
1) People at Second Amendment political rallies carry firearms openly as a First Amendment expression.
2) I carry a large .44 Magnum revolver which is impossible to conceal when I am camping, hiking, and hunting. So I carry it openly in a chest holster.
3) Impromptu community militias need the option to carry firearms openly (especially long guns) to secure their neighborhoods/communities during periods of civil unrest.
(Note: I carry a large .44 Magnum revolver when camping, hiking, and hunting for protection against cougars, wolves, large bears, deer/elk, and even humans.)
““Despite its reputation as a largely gun-friendly state, Florida inexplicably continues to prohibit the peaceable carrying of firearms in an open and unconcealed manner,” the complaint obtained by Fox News Digital states.”
Not *quite* correct.
Open carry is allowed on the way to, engaging in hunting and fishing expeditions, and returning home.
One Florida man has a YouTube channel that covers his ongoing advocacy of this critical civil right :
https://www.youtube.com/@TheArmedFisherman/videos
He has been filing lawsuits against the LE agencies that have arrested him…
Whatever happened to the lawsuits against Rick Scott’s gun grab?