Gun rights group Gun Owners of America (GOA) has filed a lawsuit against Florida's open carry ban, arguing that it infringes on the Second Amendment right to "bear arms" and violates the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation.
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Florida's Republican-led legislature may have rejected efforts to repeal the state's ban on openly carrying firearms, but gun rights activists are determined to strike it down. Gun Owners of America (GOA) has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, seeking to have the 1893 gun restriction declared unconstitutional and to block its enforcement.
Gun Rights Activists Challenge Florida's Open Carry Ban as Unconstitutional
According to the complaint obtained by Fox News Digital, the 1893 statute prohibits "any person to openly carry on or about his or her person any firearm or electric weapon or device." GOA argues that this ban "blatantly infringes" on the Second Amendment right to "bear arms" and runs counter to the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation.
Citing the Supreme Court's landmark decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen (2022), GOA contends that the ability to carry firearms in public is a constitutional right and that any restrictions must fit within the nation's "historical tradition of firearm regulation."
Gun Rights Activists Challenge Florida's Open Carry Ban as Unconstitutional
The complaint argues that Florida's open carry ban was adopted decades after Reconstruction and more than a century after the Second Amendment was ratified, and that it was intended to target newly freed Blacks while exempting Whites from enforcement.
GOA also points out that Florida is both a historical outlier and one of only a few states that entirely ban the open carry of firearms. The other states are blue states California, Illinois, and New York, along with the District of Columbia.
Gun Rights Activists Challenge Florida's Open Carry Ban as Unconstitutional
"In contrast, the vast majority of states permit the open carry of all manner of firearms (both handguns and long guns), by any law-abiding adult and without any sort of permit at all," the complaint states.
The plaintiffs request "preliminary followed by permanent injunctive relief, as well as declaratory and other relief, to rectify Florida's infringement of an enumerated right that 'shall not be infringed.'"
Gun Rights Activists Challenge Florida's Open Carry Ban as Unconstitutional
The lawsuit comes after Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed a GOP-backed bill last year that eliminated the requirement for state residents to obtain a permit to carry concealed firearms. The law allows eligible citizens 21 years of age and up to carry without a permit or fee. However, it did not change who is eligible to obtain a carry permit, and those who still wish to get one may do so.
A DeSantis administration official told Fox News Digital that the governor supports efforts to include repealing the open carry ban in that legislation, but state lawmakers would not agree.
Florida Democrats and anti-gun activists opposed the constitutional carry law, arguing that easing access to concealed carry would lead to more violence. Anti-gun group Everytown for Gun Safety labels open carry a "dangerous policy" supported by hate groups and exploited by White supremacists, and claims that it is "opposed by law enforcement and the public."
While Second Amendment supporters backed the Florida constitutional carry law, some, like GOA, said it did not go far enough because it did not apply to open carry.
"Florida lawmakers claim to be pro-gun, but year after year, they’ve refused to repeal the 1987 ban on open carry, leaving Floridians in the very anti-gun company of New York, Illinois, and California where this is also prohibited," said Erich Pratt, GOA's senior vice president.
"GOA has been left with no choice but to sue the state, especially since GOA’s open carry bill was blocked by Republican legislative leadership during the 2024 session's first week. This ban has no historical basis and will surely be found unconstitutional under the Bruen precedent. We look forward to making our case and fighting for law-abiding Floridians."
St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson, State Attorney Thomas Bakkedahl, and the State Attorney's Office for the 19th Judicial Circuit of Florida are named as defendants in the complaint.
