Florida’s Permit-less Concealed Carry

[BeerHunter]

Originally Posted by pitor

Well, the other aspect of someone wanting to carry under this new bill with no CWFL is the fact a person would be subjected to the Federal Gun Free Zone law, 1,000 ft from ANY school will get you in trouble with federal law!

Actually, the federal "Gun Free School Zones Act (GFSZA)" is NOT the problem in Florida (see below) because, like many states that adopted their own version of a GFSZ, the issue for those that choose to carry under the "Florida Permitless Carry" law signed by Gov. DeSantis do NOT enjoy the exemption to the 1,000 ft GFSZ boundary established in Florida Statute 790.115. There is some legal analysis (IANAL) that non-residents of Florida may still be vulnerable, even with a FCWFL. So I would strongly encourage any non-resident of Florida to consult legal counsel competent in Florida Firearms Law in general and f.s. 790.115 specifically before carrying in Florida without either a FCWFL (there is no such thing as a "non-resident" FCWFL, just privileges residents enjoy that non-residents do not) or a CWP from their state recognized by Florida.

Regardless, the federal GFSZA was significantly reined in by SCOTUS in their landmark decision in United States v. Alonzo D. Lopez, that held that the U.S. Congress had exceeded their power to legislate under the "Commerce Clause" of the U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 8, Clause 3 to legislate firearms law affecting the states.

Since it is virtually impossible for private citizens to keep track of every Florida school one may pass within 1,000 ft of as established in f.s. 790.115, this is THE main reason most of us Florida Residents that maintain a "Florida Concealed Weapon or Firearm License (FCWFL)" will continue to do so after 01 July 2023.

One final note: Although I do not know of a single case in Florida where a concealed carrier was prosecuted solely on the basis of violating f.s. 790.115 without also violating several other statutes, anyone carrying under Florida's "Permitless Concealed Carry" laws (multiple statutes were affected by passage of Florida HB543) should understand their legal vulnerabilities. Additionally, "Permitless Open/Concealed Carry" could be also an issue when carrying in other states (see this video in the subject by WI based Defense Attorney and former prosecutor Tom Grieve) and as mentioned above, before doing so I would encourage anyone planning to carry in that state consult legal counsel about their vulnerability to the GFSZ of that state or the federal GFSZA before carrying in that state.