Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is doing something rare in state government: actually defending constitutional rights. And the gun control lobby is losing its mind over it.
Uthmeier has drawn fire from anti-gun politicians, legacy media outlets, and professional victims for the radical act of refusing to defend unconstitutional laws that violate young adults’ Second Amendment rights.
The latest controversy? The AG intervened in a criminal case, asking a state appeals court to uphold an 18-20-year-old defendant’s right to carry. Even hostile media outlets admit this constitutes a clear win for gun rights in Florida.
At issue is a 1987 state law that prohibited 18, 19, and 20-year-olds from carrying concealed firearms—treating legal adults who can vote, serve on juries, and die for their country as second-class citizens when it comes to self-defense.
The Anti-Gunners Freak Out
What really sent the gun control crowd into orbit: Uthmeier actually opposed state prosecutors on this issue. Broward County State Attorney Harold Pryor—who never misses an opportunity to virtue signal about “gun violence”—asked for permission to intervene in the case.
Uthmeier said no.
The predictable media hit pieces followed, featuring Pryor making legally nonsensical arguments about why the Attorney General shouldn’t, you know, defend the Constitution. A Democratic state legislator even begged Governor Ron DeSantis to overrule his AG. DeSantis has wisely stayed quiet, signaling his support for Uthmeier’s position.
Professional Parkland parent Fred Guttenberg—whose entire career now consists of attacking the Second Amendment—accused Uthmeier of “undermining public safety efforts.” Because apparently, treating legal adults as legal adults is a threat to public safety.
Uthmeier’s Office Responds
When contacted by SAF’s Investigative Journalism Project, AG Uthmeier’s press secretary Jae Williams provided this statement:
“As Attorney General Uthmeier said, this office will not defend a law that prevents men and women who are old enough to fight and die for our country from defending themselves and their families. We recently filed a brief on behalf of the State that takes the position the Attorney General said we would.
At the time of the offense, Florida’s open carry ban was still the law of the state, so the defendant had no legal means of carrying a firearm at all—either openly or concealed. Per the U.S. Supreme Court, state laws are unconstitutional when they entirely foreclose ‘general right to public carry’ as ‘guarantee[d]’ by the Second Amendment.
We have a duty to enforce Florida law and don’t make these decisions lightly. However, our first duty is to protect the God-given rights of Floridians as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.”
That’s the kind of clarity and constitutional commitment we need from every state AG in America.
A Track Record of Defending Rights
Uthmeier isn’t new to this fight. He joined Governor DeSantis as deputy general counsel in 2019, quickly rising to general counsel within a year, then chief of staff. When DeSantis appointed Attorney General Ashley Moody to replace Senator Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate, he tapped Uthmeier as her replacement.
One of Uthmeier’s first moves? Overseeing a redesign of the AG’s seal to include the phrase “Free State of Florida.” Not subtle, but we’ll take it.
The Open Carry Win
Last September, Uthmeier effectively ended Florida’s unconstitutional open carry ban with a single post on X (formerly Twitter).
After Florida’s First District Court of Appeals ruled the state’s open carry ban unconstitutional in McDaniels v. State of Florida, Uthmeier didn’t drag his feet or look for ways to preserve the status quo. Instead, he immediately issued guidance to prosecutors and law enforcement statewide.
“I’m issuing guidance to Florida’s prosecutors and law enforcement in light of the 1st DCA’s decision in McDaniels v. State,” Uthmeier posted. “Because no other appellate court has considered the constitutionality of Florida’s open carry ban since the SCOTUS decision in Bruen, the 1st DCA’s decision is binding on all Florida’s trial courts. Meaning that as of last week, open carry is the law of the state.”
Boom. Done. That’s how you do it.
Everytown’s Tears Are Delicious
Naturally, Bloomberg’s astroturf operations had a meltdown. Jennifer Massey, a volunteer with Moms Demand Action’s Florida chapter, clutched her pearls for Everytown:
“Attorney General Uthmeier is refusing to defend a critical law, going against the advice of state law enforcement and ultimately, putting our lives at risk. This is a complete dereliction of duty and at the end of the day, our kids, communities and law enforcement will pay the price while we strip a decades-old law from the books meant to help keep us all safe.”
When Moms Demand Action accuses you of “dereliction of duty,” you’re absolutely doing something right.
The Bottom Line
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier understands something too many state attorneys general forget: their oath is to the Constitution, not to preserving unconstitutional laws just because they’re old or politically popular.
If an 18-year-old is old enough to serve in the military, they’re old enough to exercise their Second Amendment rights. Full stop.
More states need AGs with Uthmeier’s backbone. He’s proving that when you actually defend constitutional rights instead of looking for excuses to compromise them, you can win—and the gun control lobby’s hysterics are just a bonus.
Keep your eye on Florida. This is what winning looks like.
This story was originally reported by Lee Williams for The Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Click here to support pro-gun investigative journalism with a tax-deductible donation.
I would leave a comment but this stupid site is once again immediately and automatically hiding all of my comments, no matter how tasteful, relevant, and short they are.
So stop being tasteful, relevant and short.
Instead, be crass, irrelevant and verbose.
Done.
Yepper some people Defend The Second Amendment and then there are those who pretend to defend the 2A. At the drop of a hat Pretenders are quick to join hands with democRats to bash Bondi, Bongino, Patel, DJT et al. The least bit of hearsay is all it takes for them to jump ship and swim to what they assume is high ground. Ironic the same pretenders do not approve of telling a Gun Control History illiterate public the Truth About Gun Control. Try to do that and one after another the dumbfuks go on a ridicule campaign. Good news is all they can ever do is ridicule because they cannot ever and I do mean ever debunk The Truth About Gun Control. ALL the dumbfuks can do is win rounds of silent applause from democRat Gun Control zealots.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=QgeYOXFXtl0&si=6fxsLxBk_Fhc7sno
I see that you have. Your link didn’t show up on my feed. Sorry to be redundant.
Your not dropping your hat your not even throwing it.
Are you the only person that has ‘the Right’ to call people names?
No, most here chose not to use our Right to do that.
Kinda like the N word Debbie.
(the N word, LOL, how ridiculous)
Xdduly, Golfers learn early to control that which they can control while also ignoring or pay no attention to things that are out of their control. E. G., they control their game and their actions while ignoring the distractions from the crowds etc.
This is a good way to deal with comments on TTAG.
However exercising this attitude is not necessarily easy.
officialdumbfuk…The fact the shoe fits you is the only reason why you replied with your same old snot nose crybaby dribble. Anything and everything but debunking what I post.
Ummm, the word you’re looking for is “drivel”, dear Debbie.
Oath of Office, Florida Attorney General “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, protect and defend the Constitution and Government of the United States and of the State of Florida; that I am qualified to hold office under the constitution of the state, and that I will well and faithfully perform at all times the duties of Florida Attorney General, on which I am now about to enter.”
Sounds like the Guy takes his oath of office seriously and intends to defend the Constitution as oppose to the status quo.
It would appear that the new Florida Attorney General, James Uthmeier, takes his oath to support, protect and defend the Constitution, much more seriously, than the prior Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The prior AG was Ashley Moody, and she was (as far as I could tell) a real ball-buster, especially when going after child abusers and human traffickers. Bondi was before Moody.
Moody was very good, but at least Uthmeier is making room in his calendar for fighting for the 2nd Amendment.
Where are all of the concealed carrying Nancy boys who typically crawl out from beneath their rocks to post negative comments on articles that even remotely speak in favor of Open Carry?
Not Nancy boys, just practical. As you well know, when people in California resumed openly carrying (unloaded) firearms, the Karens totally freaked out, burying 911 in desperate calls of “OMG, Man With Gun! Help Help me!” resulting in large police responses at gun point. A potentially dangerous condition to be sure. It took the Legislature only months to act. In addition, how many times have we heard, a bunch of times recently, of police officers told to leave their guns in their cars (which they are not allowed to do) or find somewhere else to eat because workers or patrons are fearful of guns?.
Although a recent Ninth Circuit decision (likely to be overturned en banc as you well know) confirmed that the 2A secures a right to open carry, urban areas of this state are simply not conditioned to seeing people carrying guns. California urban citizenry and courts are ill-disposed to the possession of firearms, and hence concealed carry as a practical matter eliminates those issues. What they do not know cannot freak them out.
Whoa! Leftists found a law they want to enforce! Of course it’s one that violates the Constitution.
“Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier understands something too many state attorneys general forget: their oath is to the Constitution,”
Too many pols ignore and treat the oath of office as a mere formality. It is high time they were held accountable for their dis-ingeniousness.
Do oaths count if they are using an upside down backwards braille Chinese bible with half the pages missing?
“. . . .many state attorneys general forget: their oath is to the Constitution,”
And what, precisely does that mean? Is that meaning a universally accepted/understood meaning? Are words/provisions/clauses in the Constitution (as amended) absolute? Sez who? Are gun owners not expected to determine when it is time for the boogie, based on our understanding (interpretation) of the moment the central committee crosses over into usurpation and tyranny?
My oath to the Constitution would be conditioned on how I understand the words (including text and history), as apply in the moment, always cognizant of the fact SCOTUS ruled that nothing in the Constitution is absolute (except, maybe the 13th Amendment).
This argument would suggest that ignorance of the law is a defense against prosecution for breaking it.
I’m fairly sure that’s well settled and not in that argument’s favor.
“This argument would suggest that ignorance of the law is a defense against prosecution for breaking it.”
Not quite. Asking what does “an oath to the Constitution actually mean? And is that meaning dependent upon what an individual, or group of individuals interpret the words of the Constitution to mean. The SC ruled that nothing in the Constitution is absolute. So, what do the words in the Constitution mean?
I would swear an oath to protect and defend a Constitution that I agree with, 100%. Which is unlikely to be the same understanding of every word you might endorse, support, protect, defend. Essentially, an oath to the Constitution is meaningless unless every person in the nation agrees to the meaning of each word, under all circumstances, at all times.
So… prosecutorial discretion does exist.
Trump needs to hire him get rid of red flag barbie bondi and pirro