In the United States, constitutional carry law authorizes Americans to carry guns on their person without having a concealed carry permit.
The idea behind constitutional carry is that because firearm ownership is in the Bill of Rights, Americans shouldn’t have to ask the government for permission to exercise this right.
Constitutional carry is largely supported by Republicans, yet mainly opposed by Democrats. However, in the state of Florida, Republicans have a supermajority in both the House and the Senate.
Therefore, constitutional carry looks to be on its way to becoming Florida law, as reported by the Tampa Free Press.
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So far, Florida’s Senate Fiscal Policy Committee approved constitutional carry legislation, which now sends it before the entire Florida Senate body for a vote.
A House version of constitutional carry is also going to make its way through the Florida House of Representatives.
Republicans control both chambers of the state legislature. Therefore, it is ultimately up to them whether or not constitutional carry passes. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has already gone on record, confirming that if the state legislature approves such a bill, he will happily sign it into law.
On constitutional carry, DeSantis says, “I’ve been waiting”
“People would always ask me, you know, about this, and I’m like, ‘They need to pass it.’ So he’s [Speaker Renner] gonna do constitutional carry in the state of Florida.” pic.twitter.com/A2O9zRfDFD
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) February 8, 2023
Unsurprisingly, gun control activists and other left-wingers are coming out in full force, urging the GOP-led Florida state legislature to vote down this bill.
On the flip side, the National Rifle Association (NRA), Florida Police Chiefs Association, and Florida Sheriffs Association remain in favor of legalizing constitutional carry.
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In Florida, some officials believe that constitutional carry doesn’t go far enough and ought to legalize open carry as well. So far, this is not what’s being voted on. However, the Florida state legislature could potentially consider an open carry bill, given that constitutional carry passes into law.
If open carry does eventually come before the Florida House and Senate, Democrats will undoubtedly fight it, just as they are doing with constitutional carry right now.
Though the power to decide whether or not such legislation succeeds or fails will rest with Republicans, so long as the party enjoys supermajorities in the House and Senate.
In an interview with NRA Public Affairs, the armed citizen credited his carry permit for saving Winston’s life. With NRA-backed Constitutional Carry moving through the Florida legislature, the armed citizen said, “I 100% support constitutional carry.” https://t.co/bxY00bnTK6
— NRA (@NRA) March 9, 2023
Florida also has far more Republican voters than Democratic ones, which only further emphasizes the existing support for constitutional carry. At this point, all eyes are on the Florida state legislature and how its members vote.
Only they can determine whether or not such a bill advances and makes it onto the Florida governor’s desk for a signature.
Do you think it would be a good idea for Florida to make constitutional carry the law of the land? Can this bill make it past the Florida state legislature? Please feel free to let us know what you want to happen in the comments area.
This article appeared in New Vision News and has been published here with permission.
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