It’s been a good month to be a gun-toting Floridian. The Gunshine State shines on with two major events that have made September a very good month. Florida is a weird place for gun laws. We are fairly unrestricted; things like assault weapons bans won’t fly, but Rick Scott left us with a bump stock ban, he raised the age to 21 to purchase firearms, and generally just sucks. We also can’t own Dragon’s Breath ammo or flechette ammo for some reason.
Luckily, we’ve been breaking down barriers and making strides in becoming the brightest Gunshine State we can be. We got Constitutional Carry a couple of years back. The Florida House has okayed a bill to reduce the age to purchase a long gun back to 18, but we haven’t seen that pass yet.
Welcome to the Gunshine State
Luckily, I’m not paying taxes on gun and ammo purchases, and open carry might be on the menu soon.
The Tax Holiday
DeSantis proposed a Second Amendment tax holiday last year, and he got his wish this year. From September 8th to the end of the year, the State of Florida will not charge a sales tax on guns and ammo, as well as firearms accessories, bows, and bow accessories. There are also some tax breaks on camping gear and fishing gear under certain dollar amounts.
The big thing is guns. When we are gauging our ammo purchases down to the penny per round, cutting out a seven percent sales tax makes a big difference. That reduces the cost of my 9mm ammo, with a store discount card, to $9.49 a box. That also took $28 off the last gun purchase I made. I love the Gunshine State, and my ammo stores will swell appropriately.
Let’s be real, the gun industry needs some sales. We’ve entered a market slump, and as such, the gun industry is hurting, from big manufacturers to mom-and-pop gun shops. Cutting out sales tax might help boost some sales, but admittedly, Florida is just one state. Maybe others will follow?
The Tax Holiday has seemingly been embraced by online companies as well. I searched through several websites and put items in carts, and happily saw no sales tax applied. This includes Amazon, which surprised the hell out of me.
Open Carry Comes to the Gunshine State
Florida has Constitutional Carry, or technically permitless carry. Even after the permitless carry bill passed, open carry was still banned. In fact, it’s been prohibited for 40 years now. That’s just been one of the quirks of Florida. Open carry was allowed for fishing, hunting, and hiking, but other than that, it was prohibited.
Ashley Moody successfully resisted the passage of open carry, but the 1st District Court of Appeals has ruled that open carry should be legal due to rulings from the Supreme Court that laid out a framework for firearm laws throughout the nation.
Judge Stephanie Ray wrote “that the state has failed to carry its burden to show that Florida’s open carry ban is consistent with this nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
In monitoring the situation, I saw that several Sheriff’s Departments are already issuing statements that they won’t enforce open carry restrictions, even though it’s likely several weeks before the legal and procedural steps are finalized.
What’s Next?
It seems like the State is planning to lower the age of long gun purchasing power to 18 once again. The law behind raising the age to 21 is currently in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has stated he is refusing to defend the state law and has urged the law to be stricken.
Maybe we can gain access to bump stocks, FRTs, binary triggers, and Super Safeties soon. That doesn’t seem to have the same teeth as these other removals, but as a PCC enjoyer and 3D printer, I need a Super Safety!
