By Lee Williams
SAF Investigative Journalism Project
No one is issued a Glock when they move to Florida, unfortunately. Florida’s state gun laws are good, but not that good, at least not yet.
The Gunshine State only recently legalized open carry, which was decades overdue. However, it was never passed by our state lawmakers and was never signed by the governor into law. Instead, Florida’s gun community legalized open-carry without using lawmakers.
After open carry became law, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier quickly warned all state prosecutors and every state law enforcement agency about the case, McDaniels v. State, in which the First District Court of Appeal struck down Florida’s ban on the open carry of arms.
The Attorney General also told the group they should “refrain from arresting or prosecuting law-abiding citizens carrying a firearm in a manner that is visible to others.”
Most cities reacted well to the new law. However, there were a few Democratic strongholds scattered throughout the state that did not take the news well at all. Their reactions may have violated the law.
The City of Sarasota went absolutely bonkers because their citizens can now carry arms openly. Sarasota’s City Commission is strongly Democratic and has a history of being frightened by guns, gun rights and especially the Second Amendment.
A City Commission meeting held last Thursday was attended by three Sarasota Police officers and their chief of police. The officers wore ballistic vests with hard body armor. Two of the officers carried ARs, but not a single citizen openly carried a firearm during the meeting.
So, who ordered the officers to attend the meeting with their hard vests and ARs?
That would be Sarasota Police Chief Rex Troche.
Contacted Monday, Chief Troche said that while he remains very concerned, and his officers plan to continue to monitor guns at public meetings, he may reduce the presence of “heavily armed officers.”
“We respect the Second Amendment and want people to know their rights and adhere to the law,” Chief Troche said.
It doesn’t appear that the good police chief knew how close he came to violating someone’s civil rights.
Compare the City of Sarasota’s reaction to that of Sarasota County, which is overseen by Sheriff Kurt Hoffman—one of the most ardent Second Amendment defenders in the entire country.
At a recent Sarasota County Commission meeting, there were no changes made because of the new open-carry law. The two deputies who attended the meeting wore no hard ballistic body armor, carried no long guns and were as jovial as ever.
Takeaways
Sending the police chief along with three officers wearing hard ballistic plates and armed with carbines to a public meeting because someone may legally exercise their Second Amendment rights is completely wrong if not illegal.
Local law enforcement leaders do not get to decide whether citizens can access a federal civil right. The last time they tried it was the 1960s, and a few police officials lost their jobs, and several went to federal prison.
Then, like now, law enforcement justified their illegal acts by claiming they were only trying to keep order and preserve the peace. The truth is, law enforcement broke the law because its leaders were scared, just like they are now.
Sarasota and cities like it should be very, very careful.
The Second Amendment has been a constitutional right since 1791. If local leaders try and prevent someone from exercising their constitutional rights, they may soon find themselves explaining to a federal judge and jury why they decided it was okay to illegally violate someone’s constitutional rights.
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