(This story was updated with new information.)
Flagler and Volusia county sheriffs said residents can go out in public with a gun openly holstered to their waist or a rifle slung on their shoulders after a Sept. 10 ruling by Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeal struck down the state’s law prohibiting the open carry of firearms.
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly was first to announce on social media at 5 p.m. Sept. 11 that deputies would no longer enforce the law after the appeals court in McDaniel versus State ruled the state’s law banning open carry unconstitutional.
Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood followed suit a few hours later, at 8:49 p.m.
Both agencies warned that there were still limits on where someone could carry a gun, including police departments or sheriff’s offices; courthouses; polling places; and schools.
Private property owners, whether a residence or business, can still prohibit people from carrying guns onto their property.
And convicted felons are still not allowed to have guns.
Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly: Supports open carry
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said in a phone interview Sept. 11 that it is his understanding that the Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s Office is not going to appeal the ruling, so it would stand.
Everytown For Gun Safety criticized the Florida court’s decision.
“Prohibiting open carry is entirely consistent with the Second Amendment under the Supreme Court’s decisions in Bruen and Rahimi, and the Florida First District Court of Appeals was mistaken in saying otherwise,” said Meg Beauregard, Everytown for Gun Safety Policy Counsel Fellow. “This decision can and should be appealed. Not doing so would be recklessly playing games with the safety and lives of Floridians.”
Staly is a life member of the NRA.
“I heavily support the Second Amendment. I actually support open carry,” Staly said. “We already have a form of open carry in Florida before this law.”
He said, for example, if you are going fishing, you can open carry a gun. He said when there is also a declared disaster, people can open carry a gun. And the state already has concealed carry without a permit.
“So this really isn’t that huge of a change.”
Sheriff Staly: Private landowners, businesses have a choice
Staly said that private business owners and private landowners still have a choice.
“They can tell people one of two things. Guns are welcome or gun are prohibited on this property,” Staly said.
He said if a private property owner tells someone with a gun that they must leave and the person doesn’t, then the gun carrier can be arresed for trespassing.
“I think you are going to find some property owners, business owners are going to allow guns and some are not and that’s up to the individual,” Staly said. “But as far as somebody walking down the sidewalk or on the side of a public road, the opinion of the court right now is they can legally do that.”
But that’s only if the person can legally have a gun, Staly said, adding that convicted felons or someone with a domestic violence restraining order, still cannot have a gun.
“Those are still crimes,” Staly said.
Staly said he did not think open carry would lead to more shootings.
“I don’t think so, we haven’t seen that with concealed carry with no permit,” Staly said. “It’s all about people controlling their anger.
“The law-abiding citizen that can legally carry a gun is still going to be a law-abiding citizen. And the criminals that aren’t allowed to carry a gun because they’re convicted felons or they’re committing a crime, like a drug dealer, for example, it really doesn’t matter what law you have, because they’re going to still violate the law or get a gun in the black market and use it,” Staly said.
Staly also didn’t think open carry would make police and citizen interactions more dangerous, and did not believe deputies needed any additional training.
“I don’t think so. In this case, if they’re carried on their side and we have an interaction with them, at least we know they are armed, whereas before, when you approach someone, they could be armed and you didn’t know it,” Staly said. “So I really don’t think so. I don’t see any need for additional training on how to interact with somebody that’s armed, because already teach that in our academy.”
Deputies told not to arrest people for openly carrying guns
He said that deputies have been informed that based on this legal ruling they cannot arrest someone for open carrying of a gun. But if someone is committing other crimes with a gun, deputies will still make an arrest.
“If they point a gun at somebody, and it’s clearly not justified, they can be arrested for aggravated assault,” Staly said. “If they shoot somebody with it, it’s not not justified, they can be arrested for aggravated battery or higher, depending on the outcome of the shooting.”
“So, you know, this is not a blank check to just do whatever you want with a gun. What it does is follow the Second Amendment,” Staly said.
“I think the public is going to have to start getting used to people carrying a gun on their side,” Staly said.
He reminded residents that guns weren’t permitted in the sheriff’s office, adding that it wasn’t
He said there was no irony about the public being banned from carrying a gun into the sheriff’s office when the sheriff is a big supporter of the Second Amendment.
“The reality is that, you know, a law enforcement building, just like some churches, just like schools are a target-rich environment, and you know, we have a responsibility to protect our employees,” Staly said.
He said the sheriff’s office deals with some victims who don’t feel deputies have done enough for them.
“Or they’re somebody we are investigating or that we have arrested and they have an ax to grind with a particular deputy or in general with the sheriff’s office,” Staly said.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Flagler, Volusia sheriffs allow for open carry of guns after appeals court ruling
Reporting by Frank Fernandez, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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