Ryan Ray
The Florida House is poised to again consider legislation allowing gun owners to carry concealed weapons without a license to do so during state-declared states of emergency. Fort Myers state Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen has filed a House companion bill to St. Pete state Sen. Jeff Brandes’ SB 290, filed earlier this month.
A similar bill had the full-throated support of Marion Hammer and the NRA when it was shot down last year by Brandes’ Pinellas County rival Jack Latvala of Clearwater. Latvala was working on behalf of the Florida sheriffs — who opposed the bill on grounds that it was unclear in terms of how long the prohibition against unlicensed carrying would be lifted — when he added a poison-pill amendment limiting the bill’s concealed weapons allowance after 24 hours, which Brandes said would make the bill “anti-2nd Amendment.”
Brandes promptly pulled the bill from further consideration.
State Sen. Charlie Dean of Inverness, usually a supporter of NRA-backed initiatives, opposed it last year as well. He said it could have exacerbated chaotic situations and put additional stress on police officers who would have difficulty differentiating between lawful gun owners and marauders.
Brandes’ bill will have to navigate the Senate Criminal Justice, Community Affairs and Rules committees before it is brought to the floor for final passage. Fitzenhagen’s companion bill, filed Thursday, has yet to be referred to House committees.
