US Governor DeSantis eases restrictions to carry concealed guns
Governor Ron DeSantis signs bill allowing gun owners in Florida to carry concealed firearms without background checks.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed into law a bill allowing gun owners in the state to carry concealed firearms without a license, as the state’s Republicans continue to push for the restrictions to be reversed.
DeSantis, a likely contender for the 2024 U.S. presidential election, held a private signing ceremony for the bill on Monday. As of July 1, the law allows gun owners to carry guns in public without training or background checks.
“Constitutional Carry is in the books,” DeSantis said in a terse press release, referring to a term popular among conservatives who believe the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution should allow for the unrestricted right to carry firearms.
The US continues to debate gun access as the country grapples with a spate of mass shootings. While reform advocates are calling for more restrictions on firearms, Republican lawmakers have been pushing for relaxation of existing rules.
Opponents of reform argue that access to firearms is an essential right and that attempts at regulation are ineffective.
However, gun control advocates have expressed outrage at the Florida decision, stating that the relaxed restrictions would put lives at risk.
Fred Guttenberg, the father of a child killed in a 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, responded to Monday’s news by saying, “I’m pissed off.”
At an online press conference following the bill’s signing, Guttenberg warned that DeSantis’ decision would lead to more deaths, including that of his daughter, 14-year-old Jaime. She was killed when a gunman arrived at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School with a semi-automatic rifle and shot 17 people.
“Someone in Florida could die” as a result of Monday’s legislation, Guttenberg said. “It’s because of you, Ron DeSantis.”
The conservative governor has previously indicated that he wants to continue abolishing rules on gun ownership.
DeSantis has expressed a belief that people should be able to openly carry firearms without concealing them, but the state legislature has not indicated that it will consider legislation to that effect during its current session.
The bill comes a week after six people were killed in a school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, sparking renewed debate over gun access in the US.