Florida state Rep. Monique Miller (R) is filing legislation to make it legal for law-abiding Floridians to openly carry handguns for self-defense.
Miller’s legislation is coming just weeks after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) urged Republican lawmakers to pass open carry legislation.
Florida Politics noted DeSantis’s support for open carry has been growing over recent years, so much so he “even hinted at calling a Special Session for such a policy when he was running for President in 2023.”
Now Miller is ready to take up the charge and she is focusing on how open carry allows women to be ready to defend themselves: “Sometimes women have to choose between protecting themselves and what they want to wear that day. Women have to worry that if they have a gun showing they could face 60 days in jail.”
However, Florida Senate president Ben Albritton (R) is making clear his opposition to open carry, claiming law enforcement opposes it.
Ironically, when DeSantis called for the GOP to pass open carry, he did so by reposting a video of Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey voicing his support for open carry:
Would be great to see it hit my desk — Florida needs to join the overwhelming majority of states and protect this right… https://t.co/IVB1lOwUEO
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) January 31, 2025
Rep. Miller told Florida Politics, “It is my sincere hope Florida can join the other 45 states that have some form of open carry in the country.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly:
