Florida Open Carry

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Jon651 said:
The the best of my knowledge and Google skills, there is no "open carry" allowed in Florida. If it is ever enacted, I guess we will just have to let enough time pass to see if my fears comes to pass or if and entire state full of Floridians will actually surprise me. :rolleyes:
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Open carry in Florida is legal when hunting, fishing, or camping, or going directly to/from such activities.
 
Florida was a nice place to live many moons ago. My family moved to North Florida about 1820. Since then it has been filling up with folks that are not wrapped to tight and the ones that want to turn it into where they came from. My advice to my Grandkids is find another state with not as many crazies. Calif. wasn't to bad 50 years ago when I was stationed there the first time. Now............looney toon city!
 
Hawg Rider said:
OK, I really didn't want to start a political discussion but the Florida Open Carry proposal has me in a quandary. Let me first baseline my position: I am a staunch defender of the 2nd Amendment; I have been a CCW permit holder since 1995; I realized that I needed handgun training and have taken personal defense courses; I have a wide collection of firearms, both vintage and modern; I belong to a local Rifle and Pistol Club and occasionally compete; I routinely shoot at my son's state-of-the-art gun store & range; I am an NRA RSO.

So what is my quandary? I'm not sure that Florida citizens should be allowed to Open Carry a firearm without a background check or any required training. I have seen way too many new gun owners and CCW permit holders that have never taken any firearms training courses, rarely if ever go to the range to shoot, and barely know how to operate or clean their firearms. That's scary enough, but now we're talking about letting anyone strap on a handgun or carry a rifle/shotgun in public. For what purpose? Do they just want to be cool and show off just because they can, or do they think that openly displaying their weapon will deter criminals? Openly carrying a firearm may make that person the criminal's first target! And do they understand firearm retention?

My wife, who is a CCW permit holder, an occasional shooter, and who accepts my penchant for firearms, is totally opposed to and afraid of open carry. She knows that there are a bunch of borderline "nuts" out there, and who knows what may result from passing this Florida legislation. I realize that there are many other states that allow open carry and their statistics show that most of the fears of violence are totally unfounded. Back in the day I openly carried a handgun when fishing or hunting, and I had a shotgun in the back window of my vehicle- but it was legal back then and times were different. But this is modern Florida...we have daily shootings/murders, growing gang violence, several recent mass murders, road rage shooting incidents, and a constant influx of illegal aliens (some of whom are violent). Am I being over cautious? I guess that I just have to continue to research both sides of the argument and to give this more thought. Opinions?
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How often do you practice drawing your gun from it's concealed carry mode?

How ofter do you practice drawing and live firing your gun from it's concealed carry mode?

How many shooting ranges in Florida allow drawing and live firing from a holster?

How many shooting ranges in Florida allow drawing and live firing from concealed carry mode?

How many concealed carry holders can and do practice the above?

The flaw in your thinking is a thin piece of cloth covering a gun makes a difference if the person is safer carrying it.
 
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Richard Simmons said:
When the discussion involves the government "allowing" someone to exercise a constitutionally protected right we have lost that right.
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Federal and state courts have ruled, over and over and over again, that rights are not absolute or without reasonable restrictions. We don't live in a libertarian fantasyland.
 
Open carry is legal in 45 states. 30 with no permit, 15 with a permit. Fully half of the states have concealed carry with no permit at all required. In none of those states have the streets run red with blood or have been overrun with loonies.

But every time expanding freedom is proposed in a state, out comes the fear mongering, claiming they will be the first. Hasn't happened. What's so special about Florida that it will be different?
 
stansdds said:
Open carry...often draws unwanted attention. I prefer concealed, it does not draw unwanted attention and it puts an element of surprise into my corner.
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Some folks open carry for the same reason a dog licks itself: because they can. The couldn't care less that it's attention-getting and provocative...in fact that's precisely why they do it.

I can't think of a single advantage in letting people see that you're armed versus carrying concealed.
 
Jon651 said:
As a fellow Floridiot I have a healthy respect for "The Law Of Unintended Consequences". As such, regardless of how much "more safe" people will feel by being allowed to open-carry handguns (if and when it comes to pass), I fear that there will most likely be a spike in 1) Reckless display; 2) Unintentional discharges; 3) gun loss due to carelessness; 4) gun loss due to criminal activity; and 5) an unintended increase in the number of innocent by-standers killed or injured during crimes.

The the best of my knowledge and Google skills, there is no "open carry" allowed in Florida. If it is ever enacted, I guess we will just have to let enough time pass to see if my fears comes to pass or if and entire state full of Floridians will actually surprise me. :rolleyes:
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As I stated above.......Was a non issue to us SC folks.....No blunders or streets of blood after 2 years.
 
I'm generally in favor of letting people do their own thing and mind their own business while I mind mine, then holding them ruthlessly accountable when they cross the line into anti-social illegal behavior. That is sort of the general direction in which Florida public policy is trending, and I like it; it's the main reason I moved here. I have not much use for pearl-clutching arguments about what some crazy person might do if the rest of us are allowed to be free. Even the state I moved here from, which was infested with just such a mindset, had legal open carry and it was not an issue. I don't recall ever seeing someone actually open carrying in normal everyday activities, but it was nice to know I was not at any legal risk if I forgot to untuck my shirt or put on a jacket when I stepped out to pump gasoline with a gun on my belt.

My prediction for Florida: open carry will be made legal during this governor's term, and nobody will notice it. Number of guns and character, quality, and skill set of those holding them won't change a whit, and sighting of people actually carrying openly will remain rare. Just like in most open carry jurisdictions now.
 
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Unless there is something new out you read it wrong, they are debating constitutional concealed carry not open carry, I believe it would apply to legal residents from other states as well but read the SS.

On a seperate note Florida DOES ALLOW open carry if you are engaged in or enroute to hunt, fish camp, just go to you tube tons of videos of guys carrying AR15's to fishing piers and ponds in front of malls, when the police show up they read them the law.

Btw in around 1987-88 the state wiped away all local ordinances and county carry permits and for that year we could open carry...I carried my satin nickel Colt 1911 MkIV Series 80 openly for about a year and nobody fainted or shrieked in fear, I received two comments both were something to the effect of "Nice Colt".
 
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Open Carry

There is a lot of ignorance about this issue.
You mentioned "being a target" which has actually happened, perhaps, I only know of one anecdote where that was the case, but I am only 66 years old. There are plenty of urban legends and friend of a friend type stories, but I cannot confirm them. Even so, as it is with survivorship bias in statistical analysis, you must remember that you do NOT hear the stories of successful prevention by open carry. John Lott, if you are really interested, brings this up in his book, "More Guns, Less Crime."

Less rare is the stealing of a gun from a citizen, snatched from a holster while open carrying. I know of four incidents myself two of which were on Active Self Protection YouTube channel. Two of them were successful. Another one just occurred, and the citizen chased after and was killed with his own gun. Comments were rote and unimaginative but again this was said to be proof that open carry is somehow unwise, and or he should have had a retention holster, never mind that cops with retention holsters are killed by their own guns every year. Weapon retention is a real subject and we should all learn more and gain some skills.

Open carrying of any valuable commodity will make you a target, like carrying cash out of a bank or at the ATM. Openly wearing AirJordan shoes while walking through the hood will make you a target also. Openly driving a German sports car will make you a target of car jackers. Openly wearing an expensive watch will get you mugged, unless...
(You see where I am going right?)
...unless you are wearing your sidearm, then you are much safer.

One final thought and thank you for posting and thanks for everyone who contributes thanks I enjoyed the thread. You said "let people" but there is under our God's law nobody with the right to NOT let them. Liberty is messy and bad things happen, so the tyrants come and promise to make us safer! You know what I mean? Liberty is fine as long as nothing bad happens right?

Respect and kind regards to all!
BrianD
 
I remember back in the 80s when FL was having a big problem with tourists being carjacked and murdered, criminals knew they were unarmed. Bad for the FL economy. The FL governor informed potential tourists if you have a firearm your welcome to bring it. That was pretty much the end of the carjackings and murders. Tourists no longer easy prey and it didn't cost FL a dime.
 
Texas has had open carry available for quite some time now. Offhand, I cannot recall seeing anyone doing it except one friend, now deceased, who routinely open-carried a small pistol in a tight-to-the-body Kydex holster and it was hard to spot! Otherwise, it seems to mostly be a non-event in the DFW Metroplex. I suppose I'll see it eventually.

If you're out in the boonies woods-walking I can see where open carry of a weapon that is suitable to stop various predators would be wise. Otherwise, it's simply not the best plan for the average citizen.

There is this, and THIS IS THE BEST REASON to carry concealed:

Man killed with own gun
 
majick47 said:
I remember back in the 80s when FL was having a big problem with tourists being carjacked and murdered, criminals knew they were unarmed. Bad for the FL economy. The FL governor informed potential tourists if you have a firearm your welcome to bring it. That was pretty much the end of the carjackings and murders. Tourists no longer easy prey and it didn't cost FL a dime.
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Don't remember the Governor saying that, but could have. What really stopped the problems were putting fulltime security in the rest stops and changing the tags on the rental cars. The perps could tell which cars were rentals by the tags, so the state reissued new plates to all the rentals and then they looked like the locals. We still have security at the rest stops, just now it is a private firm, not the State Police.
 
I live in an open carry state and I'm all for being allowed to open carry simply for the fact that I would not be breaking the law if my cover garment happens to shift in a way that it would uncover part of my firearm. I'm also not breaking the law if I bend over to put something in my trunk and the butt of my gun prints through my cover garment.

Personally, I do not purposely open carry as I believe you are giving away the tactical advantage of the element of surprise. It also allows me to decide if I am going to get involved in a situation, rather than a bad guy seeing my gun and making that decision.

As far as the OP's worrying about it turning into the Wild Wild West because of lack of training?
What is the difference with people openly or concealed carry? Lack of training doesn't make a difference when it comes to the mode of carry.
 
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