State lawmakers are considering letting Floridians carry concealed guns in public without a permit — but not at their meetings.
That is by no means the only place where guns are restricted under the permitless carry bill moving through the Legislature.
Florida’s list of gun-free zones also includes courthouses, police stations, jails, polling places, bars, colleges and universities, airports, career centers and meetings of the governing body of a county, public school district, city or special district.
The legislation retains those restrictions and also continues to allow businesses, such as Disney World and Universal Studios, to prohibit firearms on their property.
Gay Valimont, a gun control advocate, said she thinks the legislative exception highlights the Republican-led Legislature’s hypocrisy and backs up her view that more guns will not make Floridians safer.
“They see the worth of not having guns everywhere when it comes to their safety,” said Valimont, a volunteer state legislative lead with Moms Demand Action, a group advocating for stronger gun laws.
Gov. Ron DeSantis also has faced scrutiny as he touts his support of the Second Amendment. Citing an email sent by a Tampa city official, the Washington Post reported DeSantis’ campaign wanted guns prohibited at an election victory celebration with the city taking responsibility for the firearms ban — not the campaign.
Florida’s permitless carry bill has drawn criticism from both conservatives and liberals for different reasons. Gun control advocates say an end to permitting and training requirements will lead to more violence. Some conservatives want the bill to go further and allow firearms to be carried openly in Florida.
At a legislative hearing earlier this month, pro-gun public speakers accused Republican lawmakers of “lying” to the public by calling the bill “constitutional carry” because it does not allow someone to openly carry a gun in a holster on their hip. The term “constitutional carry” has been used by gun rights supporters to reflect their view that the Second Amendment does not allow states to restrict the public’s right to bear arms.
Lawmakers should amend the bill to allow for open carry and eliminate many of the gun-free zones, including limitations on guns in legislative meetings and on university campuses, said Luis Valdes, Florida director of Gun Owners of America.
“In Texas, you had people openly carry in front of their state Legislature,” he said. “What makes Texans any different than Floridians?”
In 2015, then-state Rep. Greg Steube filed a bill to allow concealed-weapons permit holders to take guns into legislative and other public meetings in the state. That bill died without a hearing.
Two of the three top GOP leaders in Florida aren’t saying whether they would support changes to the bill.
DeSantis has pledged to sign “constitutional carry, but a DeSantis spokesman wouldn’t clarify the governor’s stance on open carry and gun-free zones.
Senate President Kathleen Passidomo “supports the bill as filed,” spokeswoman Katie Betta wrote in an email.
House Speaker Paul Renner’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Firearm policies vary at state Capitols. While some states prohibit guns, several have virtually no restrictions on armed visitors, according to a 2021 review by the Michigan Advance.
One Texas lawmaker told the New York Times in 2013 that his Capitol was “probably one of the most well-armed buildings in the state.” That article detailed a Capitol gun culture where armed visitors bypassed metal detectors and entered through a special entrance reserved for concealed-carry permit holders.
Some lawmakers were known to debate and vote in their respective chambers while armed, the Times reported.
In Florida, concealed-weapons permit holders can take guns into the Capitol building, but they can’t carry guns into legislative committee meetings or the Senate and House galleries. Visitors must go through metal detectors when they enter the Capitol building.
The Capitol Police provides security for the legislative and executive branches of state government.
During a training panel, then-Capitol Police director Mark Glass said he considered it a “blessing” that most Floridians don’t realize they can legally carry loaded guns inside the Capitol, Fresh Take Florida reported in 2021. Glass was appointed in May 2022 to lead the FDLE, the agency in charge of the Capitol Police.
An FDLE spokeswoman did not respond to a question from the Orlando Sentinel about how the firearms policy could be adjusted if the Legislature does away with permitting requirements for concealed weapons.
Under existing law, visitors must have a concealed weapons permit to bring a gun into the Capitol. The Capitol Police prohibits a variety of other items from being taken into the building, including water guns, knives, laser pointers, large coolers and anything else “deemed to pose a risk to public safety or that may impede the normal operations of the Capitol grounds.”
If training is no longer required to obtain a permit, Floridians will still need to learn the state’s firearm laws on their own, said Mark NeJame, an Orlando criminal defense attorney.
Carrying a firearm into an unauthorized area is a second-degree misdemeanor offense, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.
Florida’s gun laws aren’t always straightforward, NeJame said.
“The vast majority of gun owners are responsible, but you have to know the law,” he said. “The challenge is the law becomes very confusing and ambiguous for most.”
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