If you grew up in the 1980s, you probably spent part of Friday nights glued to the TV to watch Miami Vice. It was slick, it was cool, and it was a cop show not quite like anything else. I, for one, absolutely loved it.
The real Miami is, obviously, a bit different.
Still, one day, I'm going to venture down there for a week or two and soak it all in, but that's a lot less likely to happen with the city of Miami playing games with people's gun rights.
It seems they want to encourage businesses to prohibit guns.
City of Miami Beach wants to issue a resolution to "encourage" businesses to be gun-free zones.
— Luis Valdes (@RealFLGunLobby) September 17, 2025
They're trying to play the "municipal two-step" game.
This goes against Florida's state preemption law.@GunOwners just testified in today's City Commission meeting against this. https://t.co/TC4r8Lj9do pic.twitter.com/6LxDOit5Du
Now, from what I've been able to find, businesses that decide to go along with this can't just throw up a sign and call it good. Those have no force of law anywhere in the state.
In fact, here's what Florida Statute 790.06 has to say about it:
(12)(a) A license issued under this section does not authorize any person to openly carry a handgun or carry a concealed weapon or concealed firearm into:1. Any place of nuisance as defined in s. 823.05;2. Any police, sheriff, or highway patrol station;3. Any detention facility, prison, or jail;4. Any courthouse;5. Any courtroom, except that nothing in this section precludes a judge from carrying a concealed weapon or concealed firearm or determining who will carry a concealed weapon or concealed firearm in his or her courtroom;6. Any polling place;7. Any meeting of the governing body of a county, public school district, municipality, or special district;8. Any meeting of the Legislature or a committee thereof;9. Any school, college, or professional athletic event not related to firearms;10. Any elementary or secondary school facility or administration building;11. Any career center;12. Any portion of an establishment licensed to dispense alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises, which portion of the establishment is primarily devoted to such purpose;13. Any college or university facility unless the licensee is a registered student, employee, or faculty member of such college or university and the weapon is a stun gun or nonlethal electric weapon or device designed solely for defensive purposes and the weapon does not fire a dart or projectile;14. The inside of the passenger terminal and sterile area of any airport, provided that no person shall be prohibited from carrying any legal firearm into the terminal, which firearm is encased for shipment for purposes of checking such firearm as baggage to be lawfully transported on any aircraft; or15. Any place where the carrying of firearms is prohibited by federal law.(b) A person licensed under this section is not prohibited from carrying or storing a firearm in a vehicle for lawful purposes.(c) This section does not modify the terms or conditions of s. 790.251(7).
I don't see literally anywhere that there's a provision for a business that has decided to become a gun-free zone.
So what the hell is the city of Miami doing here?
As it stands, Florida is like a lot of other states. You can carry a firearm into a place that isn't explicitly a gun-free zone under the law, and if they don't like it, they can ask you to leave. Failure to do so may result in a criminal trespass charge. Plus, you're being an ass.
Besides, why would you want to spend money in a place that doesn't value your rights?
Regardless, there's no legal way for a business to become a gun-free zone so far as I've been able to find. Obviously, the usual caveats of "I am not a lawyer" apply here, because I'm not, and I didn't even stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.
Regardless of the legality of gun-free zone signs on private businesses, though, we've got the troubling fact that the city of Miami was even considering the idea of trying to keep lawful gun owners out of businesses throughout the city. These aren't the people causing problems on the streets of Miami. These aren't the people shooting up the insides of businesses. These are law-abiding people who are carrying for self-defense and nothing else.
They're. Not. The problem.
I'm more than a little sick of the people pretending they are. That we are.
