He had stood at the corner of Baylen and Main streets on July 4th and waved at passing vehicles, and had a camera set up on a tripod. In his front waistband in an inside-the-pants holster was his Beretta .40 handgun. Police arrived and spoke with him, but surprisingly did not take him into custody at that time.
Mr. McDaniels has a license to carry a concealed weapon, but Florida prohibits carrying a visible firearm, except when fishing, hunting, camping, target shooting, or going to or from those activities. And in those exceptions no weapons license is required under the law.
The charge carries a penalty of up to 60 days in jail and up to a $500 fine.
Not surprisingly, he lost his jury trial and was convicted. His case is now on appeal with the Florida First District Court of Appeal, being represented by Florida Carry Attorney Eric Friday.
A different open carry case in Florida made it all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2017, where it was denied cert, after the Florida Supreme Court upheld the conviction, with two Justices dissenting.
However, 2022 brought us a new ballgame (it actually brought back the original one as intended), with the Bruen decision making it clear that any laws touching on the Second Amendment must be judged in a historical context, which if investigated would show that for at least 100 years after the U.S. Constitution was ratified, the open carry of arms in public was the norm.
The Founding Fathers never intended for the Right To Keep And Bear Arms to be an inferior right, one that must be hidden from public view as if it were a pariah. Must we speak in secret? Must we secretly associate with others or practice our faith in secret?
On May 5th, 2023, almost a year post-Bruen, the Florida Legislature ended its session with the passage of a permitless concealed carry bill, deliberately leaving the general ban on open carry in place.
Clearly, Florida Republicans are still delighted to throw you in jail with violent criminals and separate you from your family, just for wanting to keep yourself and your loved ones safe by carrying your visibly holstered firearm as a crime deterrent, even if you are licensed to carry.
This same boot-stomping on the Second Amendment is practiced also by Illinois, Hawaii, New York, California, and Washington D.C.
Why do Florida Republicans want their state to company with corrupt Democrat states and the District of Columbia in infringing on the right of free Americans to carry as they wish? Why do these Republicans treat us like children as if we did not have the maturity to make our own decisions as we peacefully go about our business?
Carrying a holstered pistol is legal in 46 states for crying out loud, with most of those allowing long-gun carry as well. Citizens in forty-five of those states have had that liberty for many years, with South Carolina recently coming on board with legalizing open carry. If open carry was going to be a safety issue, or a threat to tourism revenue, we'd know it by now. As if trembling over tourism is justification for infringing on a Constitutional right.
I believe they see the handwriting on the wall, that the courts will eventually come in line and strike down this prohibition on our liberty. Instead of the politicians doing their job to repeal this abominable law, they will sit back and let others do it, out of fear and/or laziness.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, for all his bloviating about his support for the Second Amendment, was SILENT as a lamb as the right of open carry was once again trampled in his state.
His criticisms of former President Trump ring hollow, for though Trump was far from perfect (remember "take the guns first", and "bumpstocks bad"), he at least appointed three Justices that helped give us the Bruen decision.
DeSantis's record is clear - Florida still bans open carry, and still has numerous off-limits places to carry, which puts law-abiding citizens in danger and at a disadvantage to armed criminals. And why take three years to remove the license requirement for concealed carry? DeSantis also illegally orchestrated a ban on concealed firearms carry at one of his campaign events. So much for his view of our rights.
