I confess that I didn't even realize Florida had a significant backlog in processing concealed carry applications. The Sunshine State may be home to some Second Amendment squishes in the legislature intent on blocking the repeal of the state's "red flag" law and other restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms, HOAs that want to to curb lawful carry, and a few anti-gun mayors eager to challenge and overturn the state's preemption law, but I haven't heard many complaints about folks waiting for ages before getting their carry license.
Florida Ag Commissioner Wilton Simpson, though, says there was a significant backlog when he took office and began overseeing the permitting process after winning the 2022 election and replacing Democrat Nikki Fried.
CONCEALED CARRY BACKLOG GONE: Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson tells @BrendonLeslie before a packed crowd at the Lee County Trump Club and Gulf Coast Young Republicans joint meeting how his office cleared a major government backlog@WiltonSimpson: "If you don't… pic.twitter.com/OjKWI49GJr
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) May 21, 2026
Simpson says there were 30,000 carry applications stacked up when he took office, but that number is now "zero."
"Much more efficient operations," he told an appreciative crowd. "If you apply today for a concealed carry, if you don't have it in less than a week, you should be calling us because we get them out very quickly."
Simpson pointed out that there are still benefits to obtaining a Florida carry permit, even though the state allows for both open and concealed carry without a license.
One of the biggest benefits to us, and I've always had a concealed carry, is that you don't have to wait three days to buy a handgun. That's a big deal. If you travel amongst many states, we have reciprocity with many states... so you can go to 37 other states with your concealed carry license.
Gun Owners of America's Luis Valdes argued that the state's permitless carry law has helped Simpson clear that backlog, taking a swipe at Simpson's previous stance on the policy.
There's no backlog of permits because Floridians don't need a permit anymore. That is thanks to @GunOwners' hard one fight for constitutional carry. Something that Simpson blocked as Senate president
— Luis Valdes (@RealFLGunLobby) May 21, 2026
Simpson claimed that he'd vote for a permitless carry bill back when he was Senate president and campaigning for his current job, but no bill ever reached the Senate floor. Many 2A advocates in the state believed Simpson could have brought a bill forward, but chose not to do so; which, frankly, would put him in line with his successors as Senate President, Kathleen Passidomo and Ben Albritton in refusing to advance pro-2A measures.
And Valdes's argument about a decline in carry permits appears to be accurate. As WFLA reported a year ago, and two full years after permitless carry took effect:
According to data from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, over 2.4 million Floridians held active concealed weapons licenses as of late April 2025.
Miami-Dade County recorded the highest number, with 186,435 licensed individuals, followed by Broward County with 168,641.
... But since permitless carry took effect, experts have observed a steep decline in the number of people pursuing firearm training.
According to Florida Politics, applications for concealed carry licenses, which require completion of a safety course, dropped by nearly 64% during the same three-month period compared to the previous year.
Interestingly, though, the decline in carry permit applications actually began before permitless carry became law. The number of new applications peaked in fiscal year 2020-2021, with 362,024 applications. That's nearly double the number of applications in FY 2019-2020, and since then the number of new applications have declined pretty steadily.
- FY 2021-2022: 281,681
- FY 2022-2023: 204,541
- FY 2023-2024: 100,080
- FY 2024-2025: 96.694
It looks like the plunge may have stopped in the most recent fiscal year, and maybe 100,000 or so applications will be the new normal, in large part because of the benefits that Simpson touted in his appearance in Lee County. That's still a significant number, and the fact that Simpson says Floridians shouldn't have to wait more than a week is significant as well. In the Senate, Simpson might have been a thorn in the side of 2A activists pushing for Constitutional Carry, but as Agriculture Commissioner, I think it's fair to say that Simpson hasn't stood in the way of Floridians and their right to bear arms.
Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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