{"id":155780,"date":"2026-02-14T19:58:43","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T19:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/155780\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T19:58:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T19:58:43","slug":"gun-control-advocates-criticize-florida-attorney-generals-stance-on-concealed-carry-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/155780\/","title":{"rendered":"Gun-control advocates criticize Florida Attorney General’s stance on concealed carry law"},"content":{"rendered":"

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 Gun-control advocates are sharply criticizing Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier after he asked an appeals court to support a teenager\u2019s right to carry a concealed firearm, despite a Broward judge previously ruling that the state\u2019s ban on concealed carry for 18 to 20-year-olds is constitutional<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Our news partners at the South Florida Sun Sentinel <\/a>report that Uthmeier also refused to allow the Broward State Attorney\u2019s Office<\/a> to defend the law independently, prompting accusations that the state is failing to uphold legislation approved by lawmakers. <\/p>\n

According to the Sun Sentinel, the dispute centers on a 1987 Florida law that prohibits concealed firearm possession for individuals aged 18 to 21. The law has long withstood legislative and judicial reviews. However, conflicting rulings have emerged: one Broward judge dismissed a concealed carry case after deeming the restriction unconstitutional under the Second Amendment<\/a>, while another judge previously upheld the same statute in a separate case. <\/p>\n

On February 9, the Broward State Attorney, Harold Pryor, publicly disagreed<\/a> with Uthmeier\u2019s decision but said his office will comply.<\/p>\n

“The State Attorney General\u2019s Office contacted the Broward State Attorney\u2019s Office to let us know that they would be conceding the legal argument regarding the prosecution of the law that prohibits individuals under the age of 21 from carrying a firearm,” said Pryor.<\/p>\n

Pryor emphasized the ongoing impact of gun violence in Florida \u2014 including the 2018 Parkland school shooting<\/a> \u2014 and asserted that the law remains in effect, meaning his office will continue enforcing it despite the attorney general\u2019s position. <\/p>\n

See also: Pregnant woman survives sinking car crash, welcomes baby girl in Fort Pierce<\/a><\/p>\n

State Rep. Dan Daley <\/a>criticized Uthmeier for allegedly putting political preferences ahead of legal obligations. The Sun Sentinel reports Daley is urging Gov. Ron DeSantis to intervene, noting that the governor has previously removed prosecutors over disagreements involving enforcement discretion. DeSantis, however, gave no indication that he opposes the attorney general\u2019s stance.<\/p>\n

Gun reform advocate Fred Guttenberg also condemned the attorney general\u2019s decision, saying that refusing to defend the concealed carry age restriction undermines public safety efforts. <\/p>\n

Guttenberg, whose daughter was killed in the Parkland tragedy, warned that laws like this exist to protect communities and save lives and expressed deep concern over the state\u2019s withdrawal from defending the statute.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 Gun-control advocates are sharply criticizing Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier after he asked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155781,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250],"class_list":{"0":"post-155780","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-lauderdale","8":"tag-fort-lauderdale","9":"tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","10":"tag-fort-lauderdale-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}