Gun Owners of America is grateful for the hard work our members did to push Florida across the finish line and make permitless carry a reality. Starting July 1, the Sunshine State will join the growing majority of states that have decided to not require law-abiding citizens to beg the government for permission to carry a concealed handgun.

While a step in the right direction, Florida’s new permitless carry legislation is not full Constitutional Carry – and GOA is not giving up on that fight. We will be partnering with you – the grassroots army – to make full Constitutional Carry a reality in the near future.

But let me break down what is changing in Florida come July 1st:

• If you are 21 or older and can legally purchase and own a firearm, you can legally carry it without the need of a concealed weapons permit in Florida.
• You do NOT have to be a Florida resident to be able to carry without a permit. Any law-abiding citizen in the US can legally carry a firearm in Florida now without any permit.
• You MUST still carry a form of identification (driver’s license or state ID card) with you if you carry a handgun concealed.
• You can only legally carry a handgun, not a long gun, and it must be concealed. Open Carry is still ILLEGAL except for a very few limited circumstances.
• So-called “gun free” zones are still enforced. You cannot carry on school property, in a polling place, federal property (US Post Office, National Park Service Office, etc), Police/Sheriff/Highway Patrol station, or any government meeting (State Legislature, School Board, County Commission, City Council, etc).While not perfect, this is still a huge win for our Second Amendment rights!

You, and tens of thousands of other gun owners across Florida called and emailed our lawmakers and showed up to the Capitol alongside GOA!

• Save Up To 66% Off At My Pillow With Promo Code TIMBROWN
• Build Your Own Food Forest & Save 5% With Promo Code TIMBROWN
• Here’s A Way You Can Stockpile Food For The Future
• Stockpile Your Ammo & Save $15 On Your First Order
• Preparing Also Means Detoxifying – Here’s One Simple Way To Detoxify

The 2023 Legislative Session had a GOA All-Star Team working the Capitol. Pictured here is Erich Pratt (GOA’s Senior Vice President), Luis Valdes (GOA’s FL Director), and “Jed” Carroll (GOA’s FL Deputy Director) testifying before the Legislature for the passage of Permitless Carry.

For years, Florida’s Republicans refused to even bring up the idea of any pro-gun legislation that would repeal any restriction on carrying a firearm. They’ve been against Open Carry, Campus Carry, and Permitless Carry.

Due to the hard work of Gun Owners of America and, more importantly, YOU, we went from RINOs not even hearing any pro-gun legislation to getting a form of permitless carry passed. It took years of hard work, but your activism is paying off.

We’ve put enough pressure on the Republican Establishment, and we’ve gotten a major win across the finish line. Starting July 1, law-abiding gun owners will no longer need a government permission slip to carry a concealed handgun in Florida.

No longer are we beholden to a government tax and permission slip to protect ourselves.

Again, this isn’t everything that we fought for, but it is still a step in the right direction. Having the ability to have at least one method of carrying without the requirement of having a government-issued permission slip is a good thing.

But this doesn’t mean that Gun Owners of America will just “take the win” as Rep. Chuck Brannan told gun owners earlier this past session. We’re still going to push for Open Carry, Campus Carry, repealing Red Flag Laws, and repealing Gun Free Zones.

So, let’s keep up the good fight and make sure to keep the pressure on our legislators in Tallahassee. The next session is right around the corner and getting Permitless Concealed Carry is just the first battle in the war to restore our Second Amendment rights in the “Gunshine State.”

Article by Luis Valdes