TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s attorney general is telling law enforcement that open carry of firearms is “the law of the state” following a court decision last week.
Attorney General James Uthmeier, in a memo sent Monday to Florida law enforcement agencies and prosecutors, said the 1st District Court of Appeal’s ruling that the state’s open carryban is unconstitutional is binding statewide.
Some county sheriff’s offices had already announced they wouldn’t arrest people solely for carrying firearms openly. Uthmeier’s memo provided more statewide guidance.
Last week, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri raised concern about whether the appeals court decision applied to Pinellas, noting that the Florida Supreme Court had previously upheld the state’s ban.
“As a matter of well-established law a lower court, especially one in another district, cannot overrule the law established by the Florida Supreme Court,” Gualtieri said last week. “We must consider whether the Supreme Court’s prior decision is the law in Pinellas County.”
Gualtieri said then that he’d work with Uthmeier’s office and others to determine the scope of the ruling and how to proceed. He did not immediately return a request for comment Monday.
The Florida Supreme Court upheld the state’s open carry ban in 2017.
The 1st District Court of Appeal, in its order last week, said a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court case, referred to as the Bruen decision, takes precedence. The Bruen decision says that laws regulating the Second Amendment must be basedon historic tradition.
Uthmeier, in his memo, agreed. He said that because no other appellate court had considered the open carry ban since the Bruen decision, the appellate court’s decision was final.
Uthmeier said “prudence counsels that prosecutors and law enforcement personnel should likewise refrain” from arresting and prosecuting people.
He noted that the court’s decision does not stop officers from policing people who show their firearms openly in a careless, angry or threatening manner.
The court said its ruling isn’t final until the time for any motions for rehearing runs out, which would be on Sept. 25. But Uthmeier, on social media, said open carry is the state’s law “as of last week.”
Florida before only allowed open carrying of a firearm if someone was traveling to or from fishing or hunting. But now, people will be able to openly have a gun in public spaces like on the streets or on beaches without a reason.
People still are prohibited from carrying guns — openly or concealed —in certain areas, like in schools and in court. And private property owners still can restrictpeople from bringing weapons into their spaces.
Before the court ruling, Florida was one of four states — alongside Illinois, Connecticut and California — to ban open carry in nearly all circumstances for all kinds of firearms, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has pushed for open carry along with a rollback of other Florida gun laws, but Florida’s Republican supermajority Legislature has been resistant.
On Monday, a group of Second Amendment advocacy groups put out a joint letter warning that any attempts to limit the impact of the open carry ruling will be “vigorously and strongly opposed by a unified front of Florida gun owners.”
The organizations, including the National Rifle Association, Florida Carry, Gun Owners of America and Florida Gun Rights, alluded to people “pushing for new regulations to limit the impact of this hard-fought victory.”
Logan Edge, the executive director of Florida Gun Rights, said he was concerned about how the Legislature would handle the ruling because of their past actions.
“We’ve seen Republican lawmakers cave for gun control after Parkland and actions speak louder than words,” he said.
