At a recent Senate Committee meeting to discuss Sen. Jay Collins SB 1715 gun bill, Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) – who was not at the meeting – was challenged by Florida residents such as Matt Collins on the issue of constitutional carry.
As The Floridian has reported, recently, Gov. DeSantis has not been a stranger to this issue in the slightest. On the multiple occasions, the Florida Governor has stood firm on his word that he will sign Constitutional Carry and Open Carry legislation.
At the meeting, Politico’s Matt Dixon reported an emailed statement Collins sent out, which included called Gov. DeSantis politically “impotent.”
Collins stated that Florida’s legislature has “no intention to add open carry” and added that “there is no legitimate excuse” to not send it to the Governor’s desk.
Here are the full remarks from Matt Collins... pic.twitter.com/b5hv62MHCg
— Matt Dixon (@Mdixon55) March 9, 2023
“Even Governor Abbott of Texas who has a higher percentage of Democrats in his legislature was able to get them to pass a true Constitutional Carry bill. Open carry is part of Governor DeSantis’ agenda, he has gone on record saying he wants it,” stated Collins.
However, Collins would go on to scathe the leadership of DeSantis, especially with the Republican supermajority in the Florida Legislature.
“This action by the legislature undermines the Governor’s agenda which of course hurts his chances in the upcoming Presidential primary. I like Governor DeSantis but quite frankly the inability to get open carry included in this bill is embarrassing for him. It’s failed leadership. It’s weak.”
Collins would add that if DeSantis cannot get a supermajority to work with him, then “how do we think he will do trying to convince Congress to act on anything if he were to become President?”
“If open carry isn’t added to this bill, it shows the political impotence on the part of Governor DeSantis,” Collins concluded.
Governor DeSantis has repeatedly stated that he is ready to pass the bill and is waiting on the Florida House and Senate to send the bill to his desk.
Matt Collins stated that he was not there to “speak on behalf of anyone else or any other organization.”
However, it should be noted for the sake of transparency that Collins is the Director of Legislation for Florida Gun Rights, a “non-profit, non-partisan grassroots citizen organization made up of gun owners and lovers of liberty.”
He claims that in 2015 his endeavors aided in the passage of constitutional carry in West Virginia.
During the public testimony segment of the committee meeting, Collins did not speak.
