Almost every state has some provision for open carry. Some have always allowed it without a permit, which gives or gave people a way to be armed as they wait for that permit. Others only allow it if you have a permit, which sucks, but it is what it is. Then we have constitutional carry states that allow both without any kind of permission.
But we also have a small number that don't allow it, no matter what.
In fact, there are only four, but as a recent piece reminded me, one of these is not like the others.
New York, California, and Illinois not allowing open carry is on brand for them. The same is true of Washington, DC, which isn't a state, obviously, but also includes a prohibition on open carry, which has done such amazing things for public safety that Trump has taken over law enforcement in the district.
But the fourth state is Florida.
This is a state that many refer to as The Gunshine State. I stood at a Second Amendment gathering a couple of years ago and literally heard a state lawmaker claim that Florida is the freest state in the nation. That's a bold take for a state that's on a gun rights list with California and New York.
I mean, even Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut have them beat in this category, for crying out loud. Almost every other anti-gun state in the country allows open carry in some way, shape, or form, but Florida doesn't.
Like, at all.
I'm sorry, but if you're known by the company you keep, this is not what a free state like Florida should be comfortable with.
Granted, no state creates or eliminates laws based solely on who else has similar restrictions. That's kind of dumb, and I'll admit it. Still, the idea of open carry is common enough that I still can't completely get why lawmakers there are so opposed to it.
I've heard it suggested that they think the sight of people walking around, openly armed, will dissuade tourists from visiting the state. I find that argument troubling, if for no other reason than 46 other states have open carry in some way. Most people will be used to seeing it to some degree or another, or at least not be so completely freaked out by it that they leave the state, never to return with their money.
I honestly find that argument more than a little stupid. Like, dumb enough to qualify for special parking.
At the end of the day, the problem in Florida has nothing to do with tourism or anything else. It has everything to do with too many people pretending to be pro-gun when they're nothing of the sort. They might be anti-gun control, but that's not remotely the same thing when it comes to legislators. There might be a point to anti-gun control in anti-gun states. They might be the best you can get in a place like California or Illinois.
But Florida doesn't need them. They need fighters. They need people who will do more than just hold the line, because the line isn't in a great place for a state that is thought of as pro-gun.
I've called it the most restrictive pro-gun state in the country, and not a single Floridian gun rights advocate has disagreed with me on that front.
For the rest of us, though, it's a reminder that just being in a pro-gun place doesn't ensure that pro-gun things are just going to happen. Floridians are still fighting to end waiting periods for gun sales, restrictions on gun purchases for adults under 21, and, yeah, open carry.
That's just a few of the issues they're trying to tackle.
None of it should be a thing in the supposedly freest state in the country, yet here we are.
Florida's in terrible company, and if things don't change, sooner or later, they may find themselves in even worse company.
