Effective this past Saturday, a new Florida law went into effect that allows adults who are legally able to carry a concealed firearm to do so without a license.
The measure, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in April, does away with a decades-old licensing process, which has included requiring that people undergo firearms training and background screening to carry concealed weapons. The law requires people carrying concealed firearms to have valid identification and “display such identification upon demand by a law enforcement officer.”
The law also includes various changes designed to bolster school safety, including providing additional money for school hardening.
What the new law does not change are the venues where guns are not allowed.
"While it is no longer necessary to have a permit to carry a concealed firearm, the law does not change the locations where firearms are allowed. Possession of a firearm, unless you are a law enforcement officer, is still prohibited at Florida Gulf Coast University, James D. Slapp, chief of the FGCU Police Department, said in a memo to university faculty, staff and students on Wednesday.
Slapp offered up a list of places where it is illegal to carry a firearm:
- School, college, or professional athletic event
- Any police, sheriff, or highway patrol station
- Detention facility, prison, or jail
- Courthouse
- Polling place
- Government body meeting at a county, public school district, municipality, or special district
- Elementary or secondary school facility or administration building
- College or university facility
- Portion of an establishment licensed to dispense alcohol for consumption (a bar)
- Airport
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