Concealed Carry

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.

State health officials reported another 1,371 confirmed cases of COVID-19, Wednesday, increasing the statewide total to 67,371 confirmed cases. With the exception of this past Monday, the Florida Department of Health has reported more than 1,000 new cases of the virus each day since June third.

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services-elect, Nikki Fried, doesn’t actually take office until January, but says she’s already begun…

A 2012 internal investigation found that 48 Florida state employees made mistakes in issuing permits for concealed weapons, security guards and other...