Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday he expects to approve changing Florida laws to let people carry guns without permits, a right known as “constitutional carry.”
It is not clear when that could happen. DeSantis didn’t say whether he would add the issue to a special legislative session that will start May 23 on property insurance. But he said he intends to eventually sign such gun legislation.
“The one thing that I wanted the Legislature to do, and I think we will do it, I can’t tell you exactly when, but I’m pretty confident that I will be able to sign constitutional carry into law in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said while at an infrastructure-funding event in Williston.
Under current law, people who want to carry guns must get concealed weapons permits from the state. Constitutional carry would allow people to carry guns without the permits.
“The Legislature will get it done. I can’t tell you if it will be next week, six months, but I can tell you that before I am done as governor we will have a signature on that bill,” said DeSantis, who is running for re-election this year.
Alabama and Georgia, both also under Republican governors, enacted forms of constitutional carry laws in the past two months.
As of March 31, Florida had just under 2.5 million concealed-weapons permits issued, according to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which administers the program.