With open carry not restricted in 36 states, you might think that one more state deregulating that constitutional right wouldn’t be much of a big deal. Then again, you might be underestimating the propensity of gun-ban advocates to have a hissy fit about any firearm deregulation, regardless of how proven safe it is.
Such is the case with open carry in the state of Florida after a court ruled that the state’s restriction on open carry was unconstitutional, making it the 37th. While residents in the other 36 states haven’t seen the forecasted “blood running in the streets,” that hasn’t stopped those against firearms rights from screaming the sky is falling.
“I have a long history advocating for the rights afforded in the Second Amendment and have previously petitioned Courts to uphold those rights for all citizens,” Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said in a news release distributed by the party. “However, I strongly believe that the First District Court of Appeals has erred in its recent opinion, which paves the way for open carry in the State of Florida.
“This is a moment in history when we need to promote safer environments, not embolden those who could abuse the ruling’s intent to sow seeds of terror.”
If you think that’s over the top, considering open carry is already legal in two-thirds of the United States, you haven’t seen anything yet. When Florida’s largest grocery chain, Publix, announced last week that it would allow open carry in all of its stores, the anti-gun crowd went even more apoplectic.
In fact, gun-ban group Giffords acts like the Publix decision might be the end of the world, calling it a “massive threat to public safety.”
“We should all be able to go on a grocery run without worrying about if we’ll make it home, but now anyone can openly carry a gun in Florida’s largest grocery store chain without a background check or training,” the organization posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Unsurprisingly, the so-called “mainstream” media, including the South Florida Sun Sentinel, is also getting in on the fearmongering.
“Publix surely has the legal right to decide whether to allow guns on its premises,” the Sentinel editorial board wrote recently, calling for a boycott of the store chain “But similarly, nobody is required to shop there, either. We are the ‘free state of Florida,’ after all, right?
“Publix’s choice sets a poor example for other businesses. It won’t comfort Floridians already nervous because of the gun violence in a state where the gun lobby has too much influence.”
Perhaps I can comfort both the folks at Giffords and the Sentinel editorial board. In Oklahoma, where I live, it’s not uncommon to go to the grocery store and see someone openly carrying a cocked and locked 1911 or a Glock on their belt. Same goes for gas stations, restaurants, clothing stores and other businesses.
The reason those guns being carried in stores don’t hurt other shoppers is that they are inanimate objects, incapable of firing on their own. Guns that you see being openly carried are not a problem in our society.
Violent criminals using firearms to ply their trade is what makes Americans less safe. The sooner Giffords and the Sentinel editorial board learn that the better off we’ll all be.
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