By Mandy Miles, Alex Rickert & Jim McCarthy
Editors’ note: Legal interpretations and implications of the Sept. 10 court ruling are changing hourly. The Keys Weekly will continue to update this story as more information becomes available from official sources.
A Florida appeals court ruled this week that adults in Florida can carry a gun in public as casually as they carry a grocery bag, a cell phone or a beach chair.
On Sept. 10, while the online world seethed over the shooting death of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk, a three-judge panel from the 1st District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee ruled that Florida’s law prohibiting guns from being openly carried and publicly visible violated the Second Amendment and was therefore unconstitutional due to recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
The 20-page court decision paves the way for Florida to become an “open-carry” state, meaning handguns, rifles, shotguns and AR-15s can be carried in plain view on public streets, beaches, sidewalks, parks and other public places.
Private businesses and places of worship can enact their own gun prohibitions, and the federal Gun Free School Zones Act prohibits unauthorized people from possessing a gun on the property of a K-12 school or within 1,000 feet of such a school. But states can pass laws further regulating guns at schools, and some states now designate teachers and other staff members as those who are authorized to possess guns on school property.
Guns remain illegal in all federal courthouses and their parking lots as well as federal post offices, according to federal law. But the laws governing gun possession in state and local courthouses vary by state.
As of Sept. 12, Florida law continued to state that guns are prohibited in bars in Florida and in the bar areas of restaurants. Florida Statute 790.06 further states that guns are prohibited in all courthouses, courtrooms, schools and school events, polling places, government meetings and any place where guns are prohibited by federal law.
But as the recent court ruling pertains to constitutional rights, the full implications remain unknown, and could prompt changes to the state statutes
Judge Stephanie Ray, who authored the decision, wrote that the judges “conclude that the state has failed to carry its burden to show that Florida’s open carry ban is consistent with this nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
“History confirms that the right to bear arms in public necessarily includes the right to do so openly,” the ruling states. “That is not to say that open carry is absolute or immune from reasonable regulation. But what the state may not do is extinguish the right altogether for ordinary, law-abiding, adult citizens.”
Governor & attorney general celebrate ruling
The Sept. 10 ruling will go into effect following a requisite 15-day window during which the state attorney general could appeal the ruling. But Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier celebrated the court’s decision in a social media post on X, writing, “Our office fully supports the court’s decision. This is a big win for the Second Amendment rights of Floridians.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis similarly applauded the court, writing on X, “This decision aligns state policy with my long-held position and with the vast majority of states throughout the union. Ultimately, the court correctly ruled that the text of the Second Amendment — ‘to keep and bear arms’ — says what it means and means what it says.”
DeSantis said at a recent press conference that he’s open to signing a bill for open carry in the Sunshine State, if legislators pass it during the upcoming session.
But state Senate President Ben Albritton has previously opposed open carry legislation, stating his support for law enforcement and their concerns about open-carry legislation. House Speaker Danny Perez has previously acknowledged no need for open carry legislation when Florida allows permit-less carry.
In most other states with open-carry permissions, the policy was voted in by a majority of state legislators, who could draft guardrails and restrictions.
In the case of Florida, the open-carry designation came from a court ruling that was prompted by the arrest of a Florida man for carrying a gun in public. He was convicted and sentenced to probation, but then appealed his conviction, claiming Florida’s open-carry ban was unconstitutional. This week, the appeals court judges in Tallahassee agreed.
Florida Keys law enforcement leaders respond
Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay on Friday posted a video on his agency’s Facebook page, advising people that they’re much more likely to see people carrying guns in public, and that’s it’s no longer illegal if they do see a gun, “whether it’s a handgun, a rifle or an AR-15 slung over someone’s shoulder.”
Ramsay acknowledged that some people support the open-carry ruling and others oppose it, but he emphasized that sheriff’s offices and police departments can’t do anything to stop the public display of firearms in places where they’re allowed.
Speaking with Keys Weekly’s Alex Rickert on Friday, Sept. 12, Ramsay went into greater detail, about questions that remain.
“We’re trying to clarify, where does this apply?” Ramsay told the Keys Weekly. “Does this mean you can carry a weapon anywhere? Can you go to parks? … Government meetings? There are more questions than answers right now, and a lot of these answers won’t be clarified until someone takes action, and then someone sues.”
The sheriff pointed out, “the day before yesterday, it was suspicious to law enforcement” if someone was seen carrying a gun in plain view while walking down the street. “Today, it’s not suspicious because it doesn’t violate a law.”
Sheriffs throughout Florida are continuing to encourage residents in their counties to call the sheriff’s office if they are concerned about how someone with a gun is acting, as officers should still respond and seek a consensual encounter with the individual to learn more. But unless a crime is being or has been committed, there is little the officers can do, Ramsay said.
“It’s not a matter of if, but when people see someone who’s open carrying, that they don’t freak out,” Ramsay told the Keys Weekly. “We’re concerned because we don’t have the answers either. We’re likely to see 911 calls to dispatch, but unless someone’s committing a crime, there’s nothing we can do.”
He added that while public areas may be the places of greatest concern, even private businesses that attempt to establish no-gun policies and trespass violators could face a gray area under the new ruling. And as Florida’s open-carry right came via a court decision, not a voter referendum, the limits and exceptions will likely be decided in future legal challenges to individual incidents.
“On one hand, you’d think, absolutely. But then, the person (with the gun) could say that business violated their constitutional rights because they’re being excluded for exercising their Second Amendment rights,” the sheriff added.
In Key West, police chief Sean Brandenburg is also closely monitoring the ruling and its potential implications in a town known for laid-back style and affinity for adult beverages.
“The Key West Police Department is monitoring this decision closely,” Brandenburg told the Keys Weekly on Friday, Sept. 12. “According to the Florida Police Chiefs Association general counsel, nothing in this opinion invalidates any other Florida statute, such as the prohibition of firearms in certain places like bars and government buildings. As with concealed carry, the decision also allows private property owners to ask someone carrying a firearm to leave that private property. We will continue to monitor and to heed any advice from the FPCA’s general counsel and from the Monroe County State Attorney’s Office.”
Whatever the ultimate long-term impacts, guns are going to be more visible.
“Citizens at some point are going to see somebody walking with an open-carry weapon and it could be in close proximity to a church or school – high-impact, vulnerable areas,” Ramsay said. “They need to be cool, calm and collected and make decisions based on logic, not emotion. This appears to be the new way of life in Florida, and we all have to see how this is going to pan out.”
