On July 2, Florida’s new permitless carry law went into effect, continuing a disturbing trend across the country. Florida’s law marks the 26th state with permitless carry laws on the books as America is quickly becoming a nation of mass shootings. That is, over half of the country has now embraced permitless carry laws even though they carry extra risks.
As CBS News reported, those who choose to conceal carry their firearms are no longer required to have a permit to carry nor are they required to take any instructional course. However, because open carry is not part of Florida’s gun laws, they still are not cleared to conceal carry their weapons in public places. This includes airports, schools, stores, or other locations where guns are restricted or outright banned. Gun owners must still pass a background check, be legal US residents, and be permanent residents of Florida, neither can they be unlawful users or addicted to controlled substances, they also cannot have what is referred to as a disqualifying condition such as a felony charge, misdemeanor charge or an injunction.
In 2022, the Supreme Court expanded the purview of the Second Amendment and paved the way for this influx of increasingly lax gun laws. At the time, NPR asked some Black gun groups their opinions on the laws, and their opinion was fairly split. Tracy Brown, a member of The National African American Gun Association, speaks to this conflict as she told the outlet: “It means that more women will have the opportunity to get firearms in the interest of self-defense and protecting themselves. But you know, it’s such a complicated issue, especially for Black people…There are a lot of very unhealthy perspectives held by those who typify the gun-owning population in this country.”
Additionally, we know from experience that the police seem ready to shoot Black people regardless of the legal status of our guns.
Even the police are uneasy with this new law, as Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo Ramirez told CBS News: “We always assume in any situation, with the potential of there being a firearm, but now this adds the extra component of education and it could be a misunderstanding between the community and law enforcement responding to calls for service in terms of the role of that firearm in certain situations.”
Essentially the director is saying the risk of what the police call “officer-involved shootings” is about to go up directly due to this new law. Doral Police Chief Edwin Lopez corroborates this fear, as he says:
“A regular traffic dispute, or road rage incident, or dispute at a park or playing a basketball game or whatnot, now can potentially elevate into something a lot more egregious and serious because folks may be armed already. As law enforcement officers responding to these types of calls for service or incidents, we need to be extremely aware and use precaution because we know that a situation may escalate really rapidly.”
