A Florida state Lawmaker and candidate for Matt Gaetz's congressional seat has filed a bill that would let Lawmakers conceal carry in the Capitol and repeal red flag laws passed after the massacre at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School.
It is unclear if Rep. Joel Rudman, a Navarre Republican, will have another House member co-sponsor the bill after he resigns his seat on Jan. 1—two months before the legislative session starts—to take it across the finish line.
"Not only does my legislation repeal the unconstitutional red flag laws that have been in place since 2018, but it also allows for open carry of firearms in the state," Rudman said in a Monday morning statement, touting HB 31 as a pro-Second Amendment bill. "It is time for our state to act less like California and more like the Free State of Florida.
"I look forward to our state once again earning the title of the Gunshine State, where citizens are no longer asked to trade God-given freedoms for a politician's empty promise of security," he added.
HB 31 would allow state Legislators to conceal carry firearms in the Capitol Complex and committee meetings (which is currently prohibited) and Judges to open carry in their courtrooms and chambers. It would also remove most fees associated with gun licensure and strike polling places and universities as areas where firearms are banned.
Rudman's bill would also allow for the open carry of firearms, meaning Floridians can publicly display their guns. It would remove Florida's red flag laws, which allow concerned family or friends to ask a court to take away an individual's guns if they are deemed a threat to themselves or others—which has been granted over 12,000 times since the law's 2018 passage.
These laws were passed in a special session after the Valentine's Day school shooting in Parkland, in which 17 were killed by a murderously disturbed 19-year-old.
HB 31 does not have a Senate companion bill and is unlikely to pass the Senate even if a Senator co-sponsors the Legislation. In November, Senate President Ben Albritton, a Wauchula Republican, told reporters that he does not plan to greenlight open carry legislation because most law enforcement officers oppose it.
"I stand with [law enforcement] today in opposition. They oppose it," Albritton said. "I trust my law-enforcement officials, and that’s where I stand.”
Rudman did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publishing.
