Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier declined to offer his opinion Tuesday on whether the Florida Legislature should put the open carrying of firearms in Florida into state statute.
Following the decision by the state First District Court of Appeals on Sept. 10 that the 1987 law banning open carry in Florida was unconstitutional, the AG declared five days later that in light of that ruling, he was declaring that open carry is now the law of the state.
Speaking during a press conference at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday, Uthmeier acknowledged that changing the law based on the court’s ruling was “not the cleanest situation and there’s likely cleanup that’s going to be needed by the Legislature.”
He went on to caution that federal and state laws still restrict the ability to openly carry a gun in certain locations.
“We’ll see what the Legislature decides to do when they come back,” he said. “I know everybody is taking a look and researching and better understanding the current legal environment right now, so I’m not going to speculate what they do or don’t want to do.”
Uthmeier appeared to be firmer last week that the Legislature would need to pass a law on open carry.
“We’re not going to be enforcing violations of that [open carry] law given this new opinion, but that’s going to have to be addressed — taken out of Florida statute and an open-carry law has got to be put back in place,” he said at a press conference with Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd in Winter Haven last Friday.
Lawmakers are reading and dissecting the judicial ruling, he said, adding that the decision resulted in “some inconsistencies” about concealed-weapons licenses and the permitless carry law passed in Florida in recent years while the open-carry ban was still in place.
Sheriff Judd indicated at that press conference that he believes that the Legislature needs to act.
“When you pluck a piece of that out like the appellate court did without the opportunity to shore up the rest of it, it makes the rest of the law a little wonky,” he said. “I have spoken to the attorney general … the speaker of the House, the president of the Senate, and the chief of staff for the governor, saying, ‘We just need some help so we can redefine and get these lines straight again.’”
No state lawmaker has filed a bill yet that would put open carry into statute. Second Amendment advocates spoke out last week opposing any such bill, fearing such a measure could restrict the open-carry policy the ruling established.
“Member of Florida Gun Rights stand united and strong against any potential infringements on the recent ruling which declared Florida’s ban on open carry as unconstitutional,” said Logan Edge with that group last week.
The new policy is already being observed in Tallahassee in the Capitol.
Scripps Television reporter Forrest Saunders posted a photo on X on Tuesday showing a law enforcement officer with a long gun standing outside a House committee meeting. He reported that the House Sergeant’s office said that it was “a precaution” following the change in law.
Meanwhile, a progressive group in Florida is criticizing Uthmeier for his position.
Voices of Florida, a Sarasota activist organization, is calling on members of the public to sign a petition telling the attorney general that his open carry policy “is reckless, dangerous and a threat to our economy.”
Reporter Liv Caputo contributed to this story.