In the second part of a podcast with News Service of Florida’s Dara Kam, Florida Agriculture Commission Wilton Simpson talked about how the change in the state’s laws about carrying a firearm according to the 2nd Amendment, not prior permitting laws, changes how his office handles gun ownership.
The state passed “permitless carry” or “constitutional carry” to allow for residents to carry a firearm. Over two million Floridians have a concealed carry license, but Simpson, who oversees the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, through which those permits were obtained, said 5 to 15 percent of those who choose to carry will skip the permit process.
“But that’s a short-term phenomenon, if you do not get the concealed carry permit, you have to wait three days to buy a gun,” he said. “Nobody’s going to want to wait so they’ll go get their permit. And if you travel out of state, there’s 37 states without reciprocity.
“Here, you have to have photo ID to carry a gun or you’re breaking the law, and you still can’t carry it into certain buildings (schools, government facilities, airports). And if law enforcement discovers you’re carrying without a card, they have to do more of a background check on you (during a stop) than if you had a permit.”
Simpson said he passed legislative measures while in the Florida Senate to make it easier to get licensed, like at your county’s Tax Collector office, and that measures to allow ex-law enforcement to open carry may come about while he’s still with the state government.
“We have a 2nd Amendment for a reason. When we infringe upon it, it lessens the value of it,” he said.
Listen to the whole podcast here: https:// www.cityandstatefl. com/podcast/2023/07/ episode- 51- agriculturecommissioner- wiltonsimpson- part- 2/ 388932/
