NRA to push for Fla. Open carry

[Endangered Species]

"We are going to address the problem of law-abiding gun owners exercising their Second Amendment rights, because they're being harassed," [Marion] Hammer said. "The goal of the new bill will be exactly as it was in 2011 — to protect law-abiding people who have a license to carry."

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog...-be-able-carry

Harassed?

[Riverpigusmc]

[Earl 007]

I would like to see it happen ,but last time SB234 was killed by amendment without politician's having to go on record voting against it . Sadly a new bill will probably suffer the same fate . I'll keep my fingers crossed , good luck NRA

[Mark C5]

She really doesn't help her cause when she makes claims like that. Last year on the Senate floor she was asked for a single instance where a Florida resident had been convicted for inadvertently exposing a weapon and she was unable. It made her look foolish. In spite of that we did get an amendment which avoids prosecution for inadvertent exposure. I also do not believe open carry will pass as long as a majority of County Sheriffs are opposed. A better issue for her to push would be allowing concealed carry on college campuses, IMHO.

[deaheat]

Sean Caranna, executive director of the gun-rights group Florida Carry, said he has tracked 77 complaints from bearers of concealed weapons who say they have been treated inappropriately by law enforcement officers since last year's open-carry bill ended in a stalemate.

He pointed to the case of Dale Norman, a 23-year-old Fort Pierce man charged with openly carrying a .38-caliber handgun on his hip, a misdemeanor, after a passer-by saw him on the street and called police in February. Norman, who had only obtained his concealed-carry license days earlier, claimed the edge of his shirt was caught beneath his holster, inadvertently displaying the weapon.

He was found guilty by a St. Lucie County jury in June. His defense lawyer, Ashley Minton of Fort Pierce, said his sentence is pending while the judge considers multiple motions to dismiss that she filed during the trial, based in part on constitutional challenges to Florida's open-carry ban.

She is also arguing that the state's exemption for a "brief" display of a concealed weapon is too vague to be enforced.

"It's kind of a mess," she said of the current law.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politic...lorida/1244820

[High Seas Drifter]

What ^^ he ^^ said. It's an issue for some. Which reminds me, I need to go update a post...

[Mark C5]

I just took a look at the video and that guy did not inadvertently briefly expose his weapon. He was open carrying plain and simple. He might not have meant to, but he was.

http://www.allnineyards.com/2012/06/...rried-handgun/

[Sully]

Honestly, how many people would change their holsters and set up? I would just stop wearing a cover shirt.

[Rvrctyrngr]

She really doesn't help her cause when she makes claims like that. Last year on the Senate floor she was asked for a single instance where a Florida resident had been convicted for inadvertently exposing a weapon and she was unable. It made her look foolish. In spite of that we did get an amendment which avoids prosecution for inadvertent exposure. I also do not believe open carry will pass as long as a majority of County Sheriffs are opposed. A better issue for her to push would be allowing concealed carry on college campuses, IMHO.

She acknowledged no convictions, but also mentioned cases of arrest, and one doctor that suffered permanent nerve damage in his wrists while being cuffed and stuffed when the barrel of his j-frame stuck out through a hole in his shorts while he was sitting in an ER. One of the Sheriff's said he didn't know of anyone ever even arrested for inadvertent exposure. Who looked the fool again?

...and before you say 'arrest without conviction is no big deal', I have no desire to go to jail at all. Let alone bankrupt my family defending a silly misdemeanor charge.

[Riverpigusmc]

She acknowledged no convictions, but also mentioned cases of arrest, and one doctor that suffered permanent nerve damage in his wrists while being cuffed and stuffed when the barrel of his j-frame stuck out through a hole in his shorts while he was sitting in an ER. One of the Sheriff's said he didn't know of anyone ever even arrested for inadvertent exposure. Who looked the fool again?

...and before you say 'arrest without conviction is no big deal', I have no desire to go to jail at all. Let alone bankrupt my family defending a silly misdemeanor charge.

^this. And while I'm neutral on open carry, if I were arrested for inadvertantly exposing my weapon, God help the cop and agency that did it..because I WOULD bankrupt myself fighting it, and I'd be looking for someones job. I'm funny that way