5 May 11-17, 2023 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | Contents | Letters | news | night+Day | CuLture | Cafe | MusiC | miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | TAKING ONE IN THE SHORTS Miami Beach man cites Florida’s new gun law after “accidental discharge” in a Flanigan’s bathroom. BY NAOMI FEINSTEIN A man who may have nearly shot off his wang in a Flani- gan’s bar bathroom in Surfside allegedly tried to justify carry- ing his pistol without a license by citing Florida’s new, soon-to-be-imple- mented, permitless carry law. A few hours after the April 30 incident at Flanigan’s Seafood Bar and Grill, Surfside po- lice officers interviewed the man, who had left the restaurant after his gun went off, ac- cording to a police report obtained by New Times. He came to the Surfside police station, where he told police that “he had an acciden- tal discharge” in the bathroom from a pistol he keeps on his waist, the report states. When asked if he had a license to carry a concealed weapon, he said he “took the safety course but did not have time to apply” for the license, according to the report. He believed that the new gun legislation signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in April had already taken effect and that he was therefore al- lowed to tote his gun in public without a per- mit, the report states. The legislation, HB 543, actually goes into effect in two months, on July 1. It will end the requirement for people to take a firearms train- ing course and undergo a background check before carrying concealed guns around town. The Flanigan’s bathroom blunder is the latest in a string of incidents over the last six months in which a firearm was allegedly shot by accident around Miami-area restaurants. In late February, an off-duty Miami-Dade police officer’s gun went off while he was din- ing at Sushi Maki in Coral Gables. He was hit in the leg by his bullet and transported to the hospital. A person’s chair was struck at the man’s table, but the bystander was unharmed. And in November 2022, a U.S. Homeland Security agent accidentally shot himself and his friend at a wine-tasting event in Nahuean Gourmet Market in Doral. Police said the agent got up from the table when his gun fell to the floor and went off, striking him and his friend in their legs. Gun-safety advocates fear accidental dis- charges in public will occur more frequently with the implementation of permitless carry (referred to as “constitutional carry” by gun rights groups). If law enforcement profes- sionals are mistakenly blasting rounds off, it’s safe to assume untrained, unlicensed individ- uals will as well, advocates argue. “Take away the background checks and the firearm training, and you’ve got some real challenges ahead,” Patricia Brigham of Pre- vent Gun Violence Florida tells New Times. “You’re go- ing to have people walking around with concealed handguns who have no business doing so. This is a danger to the public.” When he signed the legislation on April 3, DeSantis’ office re- leased a statement saying the new law “strengthens Floridians’ Second Amendment rights by allowing Floridians to carry con- cealed weapons without a government-is- sued permit.” “Constitutional carry is in the books,” the governor announced. While federal law already requires licensed gun sellers to perform background checks on buyers, people who purchase firearms through private sales are not required to undergo the background check process. Now that Florida has implemented permitless carry, those individuals can carry concealed guns in public without undergoing safety courses or background checks. Private businesses can bar patrons from carrying firearms on their premises. But be- cause of a strict pre-emption law that gives the State of Florida dominion over gun regu- lation, local governments in the state have no power to pass ordinances restricting where people can carry firearms. In the aftermath of the Flanigan’s incident, Surfside police emailed a statement to the community assuring residents that all is safe and sound in the sleepy seaside town. “We want to emphasize that there is no danger to the community, and we take inci- dents like this very seriously,” the depart- ment said. “We encourage everyone to prioritize safety and responsible gun owner- ship to prevent similar incidents from hap- pening in the future.” Police found a bullet from a 380 ACP Tau- rus gun on the floor of the Flanigan’s bath- room. Nearby was a bullet hole inside a stall “towards the east side in a downward trajec- tory,” Surfside police say. The man who accidentally discharged the gun, identified in the report as a 34-year- old Miami Beach resident, was arrested and booked on a felony charge of carrying a con- cealed firearm without a permit. He was captured on camera leaving the restroom with his son, who was covering his ears as if he had heard a loud sound, according to the police report. Officers identified the man by obtaining his dinner table receipt from the restaurant. Police noted that a witness was in the bathroom in another stall when the pistol al- legedly went off. The witness, who was on va- cation from Puerto Rico, reported frantically running off when he heard the gunfire. Though the witness claimed he heard an ar- gument before the gunfire, the police report does not indicate the firing was intentional. A waitress who worked next door to Flani- gan’s at an Italian restaurant tells New Times she and her co-workers didn’t hear the gun- shot but saw the ensuing commotion. “We were all working, and we just saw a bunch of cop cars rushing over here,” she says. The waitress says she was surprised that someone was walking around with a loaded gun inside the restaurant next door, espe- cially in light of the disputes, fights, and other commotion in the vicinity in the past. “I do not think it’s normal for people to be carrying guns around in restaurants,” she says. The owner of another business next door to Flanigan’s was shocked to hear that a gun went off a few feet away from her workplace. When reached by phone, however, she main- tained, “I believe in the right to bear arms.” [email protected] The man told police that “he had an accidental discharge” in the bathroom from a pistol he keeps on his waist. Photo by koi88/iStock | METRO | “I DO NOT THINK IT’S NORMAL FOR PEOPLE TO BE CARRYING GUNS AROUND IN RESTAURANTS.”
