Florida’s constitutional carry bill, HB 103, is likely dead, as the Florida Legislature is over halfway through its 2022 Legislative Session, which concludes the first week of March. The bill has yet to be heard by its first committee stop or received companion Senate legislation. Rarely do bills get fast-tracked through the legislature if they have not even reached committee.
Specifically, the bill would remove the licensing program affiliated with Floridians carrying firearms concealed in public. The bill would also legalize open carry, permitting Floridians and residents of other states with recognized permits, to carry openly and not concealed.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and Senate President Wilton Simpson (R-Pasco) have each said they would support constitutional carry if the issue was picked up.
“If a constitutional carry bill gets to the Senate floor, and it’s heard on the Senate floor, I would vote yes. I would support that on the floor,” Simpson said.
The National Association for Gun Rights circulated a clip of DeSantis responding to the question of whether he would sign constitutional carry.
“Of course,” DeSantis said in the quick video.
Gun rights groups have grown frustrated that Florida’s Republicans have controlled the Governor’s Mansion and both chambers of the legislature for more than two decades, and more pro-gun bills have not been advanced.
In January, Gun Owners of America Florida State Director Luis Valdes wrote that certain Republican lawmakers needed to be called out for their inaction.
“Republicans like current Senate President Wilton Simpson (R), the lawmaker who authored the Parkland gun control bill, along with House Speaker Chris Sprowls (R), a loyal underling who is at Simpson’s beck and call.
It’s been through their actions that they threaten other Republican lawmakers and make them cower and stay silent on the matter. Other lawmakers like Representative Cord Byrd (R), who during the 2021 session, killed a constitutional carry bill by refusing to bring it up for a vote when he was chairman of the House’s Criminal Justice & Public Safety Subcommittee.
Currently, Representative Chuck Brannan III (R) chairs that committee, where this year’s version of constitutional carry is assigned. Already, the same excuses are spreading through the halls of the State Capitol as an explanation as to why the bill won’t be brought up in committee for a vote.”
Sponsor of the bill, State Representative Anthony Sabatini (R-Montverde), posted on Twitter that House Speaker Chris Sprowls (R-Dunedin) was blocking his legislation from advancing.
“RINO Cowards like @ChrisSprowls are once again BLOCKING Constitutional Carry!” Sabatini said. “When will people wake up & vote these TRASH establishment “republicans” out?! FYI—if your Representative and/or Senator is silent on Constitutional Carry, that means they are working AGAINST you!!!”
RINO Cowards like @ChrisSprowls are once again BLOCKING Constitutional Carry!
When will people wake up & vote these TRASH establishment “republicans” out?!
FYI—if your Representative and/or Senator is silent on Constitutional Carry, that means they are working AGAINST you!!! pic.twitter.com/a4YUJZn9gZ
— Anthony Sabatini (@AnthonySabatini) February 9, 2022
State Representative Chris Latvala (R-Clearwater) responded and defended Sprowls.
“Hey moron, who is your Senate sponsor?” Latvala tweeted. “Surely you know how to pass a bill by now.” In order to pass through the legislature, bills are required to have companion legislation in the opposite chamber. Sabatini’s House bill did not have a sponsor in the Florida Senate.
Hey moron, who is your Senate sponsor? Surely you know how to pass a bill by now. https://t.co/B4GAZi8Jwh
— Chris Latvala (@ChrisLa1974) February 9, 2022
Lawmakers and the governor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment by The Florida Capital Star.
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Grant Holcomb is a reporter at the Florida Capital Star and the Star News Network. Follow Grant on Twitter and direct message tips.
