I n April, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis promised to sign a bill that would remove the requirement to obtain a permit before carrying a gun in public. At an April 29 press conference, he assured a Levy County audience that the Republican-led state legislature “will get it done.” “I can’t tell you if it’s going to be next week or six months, but I can tell you that before I am done as governor, we will have a signature on that bill,” DeSantis proclaimed, waving his hand across the po- dium in a signing motion. Such a law would make Florida the latest in a wave of states that have adopted permitless gun carrying in public, AKA “constitutional carry.” According to gun-safety group Ev- erytown, 20 U.S. states have made the move to allow con- stitutional carry since January 2015, bringing to 25 the number of states that allow a person to carry a con- cealed gun in public without a permit. At present, those seeking to obtain a concealed- weapons permit in Florida must complete a firearms training class, undergo a background check, and have their fingerprints taken, among other requirements. Supporters of the current process say that removing those measures will lead to a spike in robberies and ho- micides involving guns. (Notably, Florida is one of only three U.S. states that generally ban open carry.) Under federal law, gun stores and other licensed dealers must conduct background checks to prevent firearm sales to people with felony convictions, misdemeanor domestic vio- lence convictions, or a history of severe mental illness. But gun sales by private, noncommercial sellers don’t require background checks under federal or Florida state law. Gun-control advocates say Florida’s permitting process provides a layer of screen- ing that vets people who bought guns privately but want to carry them in public. “We have 2.5 million concealed-weapons permit holders in Florida,” Patricia Brigham, president of Prevent Gun Violence Florida, tellsNew Times. “To take the safeguards of the permitting process away is asking for trouble. If you’re going to be carrying a con- cealed weapon in public, I think the firearms training is essential.” G 7 New Research, Advanced Statistical Methods VPedia, a gun-violence research group, asserts that a state’s passage of permitless gun-carry laws correlates with a disproportionately high increase in gun homi- cide rates over the three years following the laws’ passage. Gun homicide rates in such states increased by 22 percent as compared to a 10 percent increase nationwide over the corresponding time periods, according to research released this past February by the Oklahoma-based nonprofit. Permitless carry is the loosest category of concealed-weapons regulation, followed by so-called shall-issue regimes, which ensure people are entitled to a concealed-carry >>p8 Photo-illustration by Kristin Bjornsen. Source Images via Adobe Stock. Ron DeSantis photo by U.S. Department of Defense/ Army Staff Sgt. Nicole Mejia via Wikimedia Commons. 7 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | NEW TIMES JULY 14-20, 2022 MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | miaminewtimes.com
