| DATE: | February 28, 2016 |
| TO: | USF & NRA Members and Friends |
| FROM: | Marion P. Hammer |
| USF Executive Director | |
| NRA Past President |
As we begin the last two weeks of the 2016 Legislative Session, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R- Shalimar) is still standing up and fighting to get Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla (R-Miami) to do the right thing and let the Open Carry bill be heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
As you recall, Sen. Diaz de la Portilla is stonewalling and deliberately refusing to give the committee and the full Senate an opportunity to vote on the bill.
An Opinion Editorial by Rep. Gaetz, calling for the bill to be heard was published today in the North West Florida Daily News. Read it below and please thank Rep. Gaetz for continuing to fight for your rights. matt.gaetz@myfloridahouse.gov
NWFdailynews.com
GUEST COLUMN:
Florida Senate should let debate begin on open carry
By REP. MATT GAETZ | Special to the Daily News
Posted Feb. 28, 2016 at 1:00 PM
The organizing principle of my public service is Constitutional liberty. If government constrains itself to the Constitution, free markets, free enterprise and free people can thrive. Otherwise, we get catastrophic consequences like ObamaCare, lawless executive orders and a government that (often corruptly) picks winners and losers.
In a world of uncertainty, the Second Amendment to the Constitution is undeniably clear: The right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
Today, Florida is one of only five states infringing on the rights of citizens to "openly carry" handguns. That's right. Open carry is legal in various forms in 45 other states. Florida joins California, New York, Illinois and (oddly) South Carolina as the only states to totally prohibit open carry. Thirty states do not require a license, while 15 do.
Weeks ago the Florida House of Representatives passed a bill I authored allowing Floridians with concealed carry permits to openly carry in a holster. It was a bipartisan 80-36 vote. The bill was endorsed by the Florida Police Chief's Association, Unified Sportsmen of Florida and the National Rifle Association. The Florida Chamber of Commerce helped draft provisions to allow private property owners to prohibit open carry if they choose.
Then, the Senate Judiciary Chairman killed it. He refused to even allow a vote on open carry, likely because the bill would have passed. No one Senator should have the right to unilaterally block critical legislation from even having a vote - especially when constitutional rights are implicated.
There is no constitutional, statistical or rational basis to disallow open carry in Florida. According to the U.S. Department of Justice's own data, in open carry states you are:
23 percent less likely to be the victim of violent crime
5 percent less likely to be murdered
38 percent less likely to be the victim of armed robbery, and
23 percent less likely to be the victim of aggravated assault.
Open carry is not a utopian solution to violence. Many factors impact crime rates. But, reasonable people cannot disagree on the statistical fact that open carry does not increase violence.
I find it compelling that concealed carry permit holders are remarkably law-abiding. According to Florida Department of Law Enforcement crime data, permit holders are six times less likely to commit crimes than law enforcement officers.
If I am elected to serve in the Senate next year, I'll again file much needed open carry legislation. I'll also pursue changes to Florida Senate rules to allow for more transparent debate on the issues facing Florida.
Florida should be an open carry state. The Florida Senate should let the debate begin. I'm ready for it.
Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2010 and has been subsequently reelected three times. He is the immediate past Chairman of the Criminal Justice Subcommittee and currently chairs the Finance & Tax Committee.
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