Florida is one of five states that generally ban the open carry of firearms. As with all such states, exemptions to the general ban are included in the law. Florida Second Amendment supporters are pushing for a restoration of open carry rights in the state. Toward that end, they’ve organized a number of open carry events under the exception for open carry to, from, and during fishing in the state . . .
Spacecoast321 at opencarry.org relates what happened when he attempted to join one of these events a few days ago:
Well after a lengthy hiatus I was finally able to go the Open Carry fishing event in Melbourne. Sadly I RSVP’d too late, about an hour before the event, on MeetUp and the host (I later found out) had gone to a different event. I arrived and noted I was the only one there, but decided to stay and fish a little (I do enjoy it, I’m just not any good at it).
Talked to a fellow fisherman for about an hour, he never commented on my very visible chrome 1911, we were too busy talking about fishing.
A seemingly retired couple did walk onto the dock and engage me in conversation. The man was hostile in tone and questions, the female was simply curious.
Man, “I sure hope you are a police officer!” Me, “Nope”. Man, “Are you expecting trouble?” Me, “I sure hope not”. Man, “You expecting a shark?” Me, “No, but it is always better to eat than be eaten”.
Woman, “Do you need a special type of permit to carry it (my firearm) like that?” Me, “No, the Florida statutes have exemptions for some activities like fishing, hunting, shooting (told her there was a 4th but it slipped my mind). And while traveling engaged in those activities.” Woman, “My daughter has a pistol and practices with it a lot. Can she have it on the seat next to her in the car?” Me, “No. It has to be encased in some manner. Either a case of some kind, in the glove box or in the trunk.” I inquired if her daughter had a Concealed Carry permit and strongly recommended she acquire one.
The woman continued to have a very pleasant conversation with me, and openly lamented that there were too many laws. Her apparently annoyed male companion walked away.
That 5 minute encounter made my day. Lots of reading posts from other states where Open Carry is legal left me ready to deflect the hostile questions with short answers and an even demeanor. I believe that opened the door for the truly curious questions.It is always curious to me that those people who oppose Open Carry for whatever reason feel no fear to approach someone who is practicing it and be hostile, critical and argumentative.
ps (I did remember that camping was the 4th exemption, but the conversation had already moved on)
The encounter with an argumentative person is a bit unusual. Friendly education, as with the woman who was curious about open carry, occurs far more often than hostility or any police interaction.
The four exemptions for the open carry of firearms mentioned above are in Florida statute 790.25(3).
(h) A person engaged in fishing, camping, or lawful hunting or going to or returning from a fishing, camping, or lawful hunting expedition;(j) A person firing weapons for testing or target practice under safe conditions and in a safe place not prohibited by law or going to or from such place;
There are numerous other specific exemptions in the law, such as being a member of the militia “when training or preparing themselves for military duty”.
Another exemption in the code, 790.053 allows for someone who is legally carrying a concealed weapon to “briefly and openly display the firearm to the ordinary sight of another person” as long as it is not in an angry or threatening manner. Open carry is becoming mainstream as more and more Second Amendment supporters use the method to educate the public.
©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Seems to me that MDA is the best thing that ever happened to the firearms industry. Wonder if I should send them a contribution?
No, make a contribution to your favorite 2A group in her name.
A couple of my thoughts.
1. I would like to know more about the Tizzy Scale. Class 5 means what? Is it published somewhere? These shrews are always in a tizzy about something. What is baseline?
2. There are plenty of crappy mothers out there. Abusive and neglectful mothers who have been put in prison for their actions. So how does the MDA qualify themselves as subject matter experts? Just because they are moms does not mean they are good people.
Hi Dan! Comments like “the tizzy scale” throw me too, but I think it’s similar to the tornado scale.
I find it much easier to refer to someone as having “a knot in their knickers,” for that reason.
I do hope you people realize that Perry was a Bilderberg golden child. He’s already made his bed and just waiting for the day when he’s commanded to sell out Texas to the globalists …….. even more than he already has.
The picture is a little shadowed, but is that a Gen1 or Gen2 Glock before the retarded one-size-fits-nobody finger grooves?
This sort of thing NEVER happens here. Then again, the last three shootings in the news in my county were ALL homeowners shooting intruders.
Armed self defense doesn’t just work on the purp shot, but on everyone thinking about doing whatever it is that he was doing that got him shot.
‘Hot’ burglaries here are unheard of. Now, I can’t prove that it’s because virtually every household contains a gun, but I have my suspicions.
To those who care the last part about open display.
Is to circumvent the good old menacing charges that you would normally be charged with if your concealed weapon was accidently exposed.
As in riding my motorcycle and the wind blowing my t-shirt up exposing my gun butt to the cop in the lane next to me. So don’t ask me how I knew that please.
Get a rope…six of them. Seriously.
Madison, WI, aside from being the capital city of the state of Wisconsin, is also the leftist/liberal capital in the state of Wisconsin…
There are 3 cities in the state of WI that have turned it liberal blue, Madison, Milwaukee, and Green Bay…the rest of the state of WI remains conservative red…
Even in the reddest of states, wherever there’s a university………
You know. homosexuals like to equate their “struggles” with what blacks had to endure during the civil rights movement. A ridiculous claim that would disgust me more only if I was alive and fought for civil rights in the 50s and 60s. Eisenhower Federalized the Arkansas National Guard to keep the peace during integration of public schools that were against allowing black students.
A better comparison to the civil rights struggles of black people in America than the plight of gays, is what gun owners face today. At least the right to keep and bear arms is actually a civil right. We are told over and over to show Barack Obama the respect that the office of the President deserves. When he uses the power of the Federal government to stop the blatant infringements on the 2nd amendment the way the Republican President did for racial equality, I’ll salute this Democrat.
Yea, we can see just how well desegregation and affirmative action has improved the lives of black Americans today…
Dean Weingarten – you are perpetuating the “guns must be in a case” mentality. In Florida, the weapon only needs to be concealed. You can have a handgun on the front seat covered by a towel, and that will satisfy the statute. There is no such thing as a “3 step” rule in Florida.
Colin Goddard, VT survivor (and ROTC Cadet), has admitted being paralyzed with fear and lying on the floor “waiting to die” as Cho systematically murdered his classmates. He witnessed carnage and took three bullets because he was a COWARD. There, I said it.
Gun grabbers do their dirty work based on an inability to properly handle the situation.
If you had been OCing, she probably would not have noticed.
I did a thorough search, and cannot seem to locate the passage “keep and bear storm shelters” in the BoR. I must have a defective copy….
That “I shot a coyote” with my Ruger LCP is a load of crap. Anyone who’s been around coyotes in the wild know how timid they are — they don’t get within LCP range, and they don’t charge adults. Second, the governor of the state of Texas does not go jogging alone. Third, no one just leaves a coyote corpse to rot . . . in the suburbs. Whatever his (mixed) record on 2A rights, this story is clearly BS.
Whatever happened to sticks and stones?
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Why the hell don’t they repair that street? That sort of road maintenance don’t fly in Virginia. It makes downtown Austin look like a third world nation…
What’s that hash all about? Is that supposed to be a photo, or what? Can you edify us?
A .40-caliber XDm. The perfect caliber in the perfect gun.
And validated by a Blackwater firearms instructor, too.
Take a lesson, boys.
I have heard so many arguments as to police saying that the public should be restricted or forbidden to exercise their second amendment rights. Where are the cops when you need them? They are no longer “protect and serve” they are now “investigate and prosecute”…as in officers of the court. Has anyone bothered to tell the bad guys that carrying a firearm is an archaic and barbaric exercise of a constitutional right? THEY DIDN’T GET THE MEMO! I will give up my right to own and bear if the anti-gunners will give up their right to speak. As my daddy said “Better to be tried by 12 than carried by 6!