Mitch Perry
Last year, a proposal in Tallahassee that would allow people to carry a concealed weapon without a license while evacuating an emergency was met with resistance from law enforcement, and didn’t come to pass.
After bill sponsor Sen. Jeff Brandes made some tweaks this year, though, the Florida Sheriffs Association endorsed it, and that seemed to be the difference as SB 290 cleared the Senate Tuesday morning on a 29-10 vote.
The biggest change Brandes made was to limit the time people can carry their concealed weapon without a license to 48 hours after the first evacuation announcement is made.
“Last year I had some serious reservations about it,” Tallahassee Democratic Sen. Bill Montford said. With law enforcement’s supporting the bill, though, he said he could get behind it. “The sad state of affairs is that when we are in the middle of an emergency, there’s nothing good going on, quite frankly. And if somebody is going to have a gun, I’d rather it be the lawful owner of that gun, rather that someone who looted it from someone’s house.”
Palm Beach Democrat Joseph Abruzzo also said he liked the bill.
Many other Senate Democrats, however, said no way.
“I need to know why we need to change the law,” Delray Beach Sen. Maria Sachs said. “I ask for evidence. … What evidence do we have?”
“I support the Second Amendment, but this bill is not needed,” Hollywood Democrat Eleanor Sobel said.
Miami Democrat Gwen Margolis said having guns in a hurricane shelter would dissuade some people from entering those facilities. “This is not a good place to have guns,” she warned.
Jacksonville Democrat Audrey Gibson discounted the argument previously made by Brandes that a law was needed for a “Katrina-like situation.”
“Katrina is really a reason why we wouldn’t want to do that,” Gibson said. She asked whether the Legislature would want to increase the number of guns during a period of high stress in places like shelters for those fleeing a storm.
Cutler Bay Sen. Dwight Bullard said the fact was that while people could get on the roads with their guns, in many cases they wouldn’t be allowed inside a shelter. “Where do you then leave your lawful weapon?”
In response, Brandes downplayed the significance of his legislation. “This is about this incredibly rare instance where people are fleeing for their lives. And yet Florida statute says today that if they bring their weapon with them and they’re carrying it in a certain manner, they can be charged with third-degree felony. And all we’re doing is giving them a 48-hour exemption to leave.”
He said he shared the concerns expressed by Democrats about bringing guns into hurricane shelters.
Just not in his bill.
“I think this Legislature should take that up and address it. … There should be absolute clarity about what happens when you get to a shelter.”
The House companion, HB 493, by Fort Myers Republican Heather Fitzenhagen is expected to be heard in the House in the coming weeks.
