I love many things about Florida, and they do have some great attitudes towards guns. But, like California, Florida is an extremely diverse state, with all the problems that come with that. And one of those is that there is a very strong "worthy vs. unworthy" attitude in the sate. What I mean by that is that, while gun owners in Florida are all for their 2nd Amendment freedoms, they're very often not so much for everyone else's.
Very few would even be receptive to the idea of "Vermont style" or "constitutional" carry, either openly or concealed, because there is a very strong feeling among a lot of people that there are wide swaths of the population that shouldn't have that right. Many of them simply don't like the idea of "criminals" being legally allowed to carry a gun, and oppose un-permitted carry just because of that, even though such people would most likely be prohibited under federal law anyway. Also, much of Florida has a very strong anti-immigrant bent because of the state's history with the Mariel boat lift, and lots of immigration from Latin America and the rest of the Caribbean. Plus, once you get away from South Florida, most of the rest of the state is very much still a part of the Deep South, so plain ole racism is still pretty strong in a lot of places. Remember that Florida is the one state where there is an actual court record of a state supreme court justice admitting to the racist reasoning behind a state gun control law.
The other part of this is that because the state generally has relatively lax gun laws, there isn't much passion among gun owners about the areas in which this isn't so. The open carry movement there is the only real excitement over gun issues I've seen there in a long time. People also tend to be much more lax about minor violations of their constitutional rights in deference to "law and order", and are much more likely to support LEOs in a situation of low to moderate violation of rights than in California. It's only when a LEO gets caught red-handed doing something that offends even common sensibilities (like blatantly framing an innocent person), that they don't get the benefit of the doubt.
So permit-based open carry is not surprising to me at all. The great thing about the proposed law, SB 234, is that it does a lot more than just legalize open carry. It also legalizes campus carry for colleges and universities, something that is LONG overdue. Additionally, it simplifies the state's earlier screwed-up attempt at allowing guns to be stored in parked cars. Instead of putting all kinds of idiotic exemptions in to appease big employers like Disney, it just says "concealed license holders may not be prohibited from storing their guns locked in their cars." It also simplifies the process of applying for a CWL by allowing you to be fingerprinted by the same people to whom you submit your application, rather than requiring it to be done by a separate agency.
At the same time, there is a separate bill that I really like as well, HB 45, which strengthens the state's preemption law. Currently, since the preemption law has no enforcement language in it, cities and counties frequently post "no gun" signs in parks and other government owned properties that are not prohibited places under state law. And they are often dismissive of those who point out to them that this is in violation of the state preemption law. The current law also allows individual counties to institute a waiting period of up to 5 days for gun purchases. This law would first do away with all waiting periods. But even better, it makes the intentional violation of the preemption law a felony. Here's what a local or county official, and whatever agency they work for, would face for intentionally violating the law:
Quote:
Potential third degree felony conviction
No public funding for defense of individual charged
Possible firing/termination of the individual by the Governor
Up to $5 million in fines to the political entity
Prosecution by the State Attorney
Award of attorney's fees to the prevailing party
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Now this is how all laws limiting government authority should be written!
01-08-2011, 6:45 AM
more on open carry Florida
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