Constitutional carry legislation passed the Florida House Friday afternoon by a vote of 76 to 32 and now heads to the Senate.
Click Orlando reported that Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has signaled he will sign the legislation, HB 543, once it reaches his desk.
State Rep. Chuck Brannan (R), sponsor of HB 543, said, “This bill is a big step, a big step to help the average law-abiding citizen, to keep them from having to go through the hoops of getting a permit from the government to carry their weapon.”
He added, “It is also not going to change who can and who cannot carry a gun. People that are prohibited now are still going to be prohibited.”
Constitutional carry is the law of the land in 25 states in the Union. Those 25 states are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Florida’s HB 543 differs from constitutional carry in the other 25 states in that it applies to concealed carry only. The aforementioned 25 states where constitutional carry is the law of the land allowed self-defense handguns to be permitlessly carried either openly or concealed.