The governor of Florida, Republican Ron DeSantis, signed the law on Monday that allows the carrying of a firearm without the need for a state permit, a regulation strongly criticized by Democrats.
HB 543, approved by the Senate on March 30, will take effect on July 1 and will make Florida the twenty-sixth state in the US to enact legislation of this type.
With 27 votes in favor and 13 against, the Florida Senate, with a Republican majority like the state Lower House, approved this bill that its defenders have called “public safety.”
As of the law’s effective date, people who carry concealed weapons in public will not need special training or background checks to do so.
“Carrying arms is a constitutional matter that is on the books,” DeSantis said Monday in a statement after signing the law.
In April of last year, DeSantis took his conservative agenda a step further by promising to sign legislation allowing state residents to carry a firearm without a permit, something he called “constitutional carry.”
The term “constitutional carry” refers to the right to carry a firearm, either discreetly or openly, thanks to the Second Amendment to the Constitution, which gives the American people the right to keep and bear arms.
Currently, Floridians don’t need permits to buy a gun, but they do need permits to carry them in public, so this law would eliminate that requirement.
The US Democratic National Committee (DNC) came out today to the enactment of this law and accused DeSantis of acting “shoulder to shoulder with the NRA (the National Rifle Association) to facilitate legislation that could make it easier for criminals to carry weapons.” ”.
“DeSantis knows this legislation could be dangerous for Florida families and that is why he signed this bill without his usual fanfare,” said DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison.
And he warned: “Make no mistake: DeSantis’ brazen pursuit of the MAGA 2024 base has shown the lengths he is willing to go to further his national ambitions, even if it means ignoring the pleas of some law enforcement officials. and put the gun lobby on Floridians,” Harrison said.
In Florida, according to data released by NBC6 television, almost 3 million people have a concealed weapons permit.
For Republicans, law-abiding citizens have the right to bear arms and protect themselves.
“A dark day for Florida”
But Democrats argue that Florida, a state that has seen horrific mass shootings such as the 2018 Parkland High School shooting and the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre, will become even more dangerous.
“DeSantis has been pushing this extreme legislation, which one law enforcement officer described as a ‘recipe for disaster,’ for months in an attempt to boost his national profile and win over MAGA’s base,” he also noted, for his part. the Florida Democratic Party.
The Giffords organization, founded by former Arizona Democratic congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who survived a 2011 gun attack in Tucson, said in a statement today that “this is a dark day for Florida” and that “our children and communities they will be less safe because Governor DeSantis is in the pocket of the gun lobby.”
“We know that carry without a permit laws lead to an increase in gun violence. We will hold Governor DeSantis to account for his egregious actions,” said former congresswoman and adviser to Giffords Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.