PLANTATION, Fla. \u2014 A routine traffic stop in Plantation that led to a 19-year-old\u2019s arrest on a concealed firearm charge has resulted in a major legal ruling that could ripple across Florida.<\/p>\n
The case began earlier this year when police stopped to help a stranded motorist on the side of a busy road. <\/p>\n
The officer noticed a firearm concealed in the waistband of the driver, identified as Joel Walkes III, who admitted to carrying it. <\/p>\n
Walkes was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed firearm \u2014 a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy should people that are 18, 19, or 20 be given a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison for exercising what many believe is a constitutional right?\u201d said attorney Bill Gelin.<\/p>\n
The case centered on Florida\u2019s restriction that prohibits people under 21 from purchasing or carrying concealed weapons \u2014 a law enacted after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very important that we challenge these areas and it\u2019s also important that we have enough courage to bring these issues before a court,\u201d said Broward Public Defender Gordon Weekes, whose office represented Walkes.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Broward Circuit Judge Frank Ledee ruled that the state\u2019s age restriction is unconstitutional, writing in a nine-page ruling that \u201cFlorida\u2019s prohibition on the concealed carry of firearms strips a class of legal adults of their ability to exercise the very right the Constitution guarantees.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ledee further wrote that \u201cFlorida\u2019s overbroad restriction on the concealed carry of firearms by 18-20-year-olds violates the Second Amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a big moment when the judge made his ruling and dismissed the case, and it\u2019s gonna cause ripples across the state for sure,\u201d Gelin said.<\/p>\n
Weekes noted that the ruling applies specifically to Walkes\u2019 case and that the broader legal question will likely remain unsettled until it reaches a higher court.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs it stands now, it is my position that this applies to this particular gentleman and will not be settled until or unless it is presented before an appellate court and an appellate court makes a decision,\u201d Weekes said.<\/p>\n
\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n
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