James Uthmeier, the appointed attorney general, who picks and chooses which laws to defend, declared Monday that Florida was an “open-carry” state. He jumped the gun — no pun intended. But on the substance, Uthmeier is right, and it’s another sorry day for Floridians.
Uthmeier sent a memo Monday to Florida prosecutors and law enforcement agencies instructing them that a recent ruling by the 1st District Court of Appeal made the open carry of firearms “the law of the state.” A three-judge panel of the court ruled earlier this month that new guidance by the U.S. Supreme Court imposed further limitations on the state’s ability to restrict the open possession of firearms in public.
Uthmeier supports the ruling and said he would not seek a rehearing or appeal the decision to the Florida Supreme Court. Unless a judge on the 1st District takes the rare step of asking the full appellate court to rehear the case, the decision becomes final Sept. 25.
The ruling doesn’t extend an absolute right to openly display firearms in public. The court noted that open carry was still subject to “reasonable regulation;” existing state law bars people from carrying guns in any capacity to certain places, including police stations, courthouses, polling places and school campuses.
Private property owners can ask armed individuals to leave. Uthmeier’s directive notes that law enforcement may still police those who display a weapon in a “rude, carless” manner, adding that “nothing in the decision permits individuals to menace others with firearms in public.” Several Florida sheriffs, reacting to the court’s decision, implored gun owners to act responsibly.
I’ve got no problem with guns; I’ve owned them, still do. As a kid, I spent many weekends at my uncle’s cabin in the Ocala National Forest hunting and shooting targets. Years ago, when my father-in-law retired to Highlands County, we’d see cowboys at the feed store with handguns holstered to their waists. That didn’t faze me, either; guns were part of their tool belt. In those days, the rule was unspoken: Guns come with boundaries.
I acknowledge that guardrails still exist that will moderate the raw visual of open carry. But you’ve got to wonder: How long will it take for state lawmakers to repeal one or more of Florida’s gun-free zones? If recent history is any example, would you bet the legislative debate will be serious, deliberative and inclusive? And in the meantime, amid this state of confusion, does it fall to teenage clerks making minimum wage to referee the law in Florida’s stores and shops?
Like the sheriffs, I’m all for personal responsibility. But I also live in the real world. Heck, half my neighbors don’t even leash their dogs. I expect this ruling will create a spasm of liberation among some gun owners who’ve sought this day for a lifetime. Yet this moment also brings anxiety, uncertainty and emotion, as armed Floridians explore where they’re welcome, and as others recoil at the sight.
Let’s say everyone behaves. Something else is troubling about pulling back the blinds on America’s attachment to guns. What does it say about our society when people are so insecure about interacting in public that they need to holster up before heading to the grocery? Is every stranger a danger, or is this more about machismo? Why, with crime rates falling, is our sense of victimhood so high? And how will normalizing this look affect the next generation, as they grow into adults and find their own comfort in public settings?
Some gun owners may simply want to exercise this newly given right. I understand; exercising our rights is a vital reminder of the freedom that distinguishes America in the world. But beyond having the right to display a gun, what’s the point of it?
This change is coming at the worst possible time, with a spike in deadly political violence whose cycle seems unabated. I used to think that mass shootings would eventually change America’s gun tolerance by driving this nation’s grief to such highs that we’d reclaim our priority on safety. But I think the opposite has happened; mass shootings have numbed us to tragedy and grief as somehow the price of constitutional interpretation. Open carry is another tool in that campaign, for it destigmatizes the purpose of a deadly weapon.
Let’s hope my concerns about safety and civic unity are overblown. But for a state that’s gone after schoolbooks, teachers, voting rights and vaccines, this marks another senseless step in entirely the wrong direction.
