TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A recent court ruling that declared Florida’s open carry ban unconstitutional is prompting questions about how the law meshes with other long-standing restrictions — and whether the new ruling is poking gaps into the state’s existing gun restrictions.
What You Need To Know
At least one Florida lawmaker wants to clarify Florida’s laws concerning gun-free zones
The law specifically address only handguns and concealed weapons, but does not say anything about openly carrying long guns
Florida became an open carry state in September after a judge ruled the state’s ban on the practice unconstitutional
Among other topics, lawmakers are discussing how Florida’s “gun-free zone” laws apply — or don’t — to openly carried firearms.
Currently, state law bans openly carrying “a handgun” and/or “concealed weapon or concealed firearm” into gun-free zones. But while that state law prohibits the open carry of handguns in gun-free zones, it but does not specifically ban openly carrying a long gun — like a hunting rifle, shotgun or AR-15-style weapon.
State Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, a Democrat, said she worries that could create a loophole that would potentially allow people to carry long guns in areas where other weapons are banned.
“(The law) never mentioned long guns because we had an open carry ban in the state of Florida,” Hunschofsky said. “So a long gun like an AR-15 is not considered a handgun, and you couldn’t conceal it. It was never mentioned in that statute.”
She is proposing a measure that would broaden the language regulating “gun-free zones” to include all firearms, whether openly carried or concealed.
Republican House Speaker Designate Sam Garrison has said that state legislators will need to take a hard look at the state’s laws to see if something needs to change now that open carry is legal in Florida.
“We are about as strong a Second Amendment state as you’re ever going to see,” said Garrison, a Fleming Island Republican. “That’s never going to change. The question going forward is, what do we do in light of the court ruling? And we’re trying to figure that out.”
Some gun-rights groups, however, view the so-called loophole differently. Luis Valdes, of Gun Owners of America, argues the state should scale back gun-free zones, not expand them.
“Gun-free zones don’t work,” Valdes said. “They’ve never stopped any of the criminal acts that happened. Criminals don’t care. They break the law — an imaginary line doesn’t stop them.”
Lawmakers thus far have not confirmed what — if any — action they’ll take to address the open carry of long guns in gun-free zones. The 2026 regular session begins in January.