Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Pro-Gun Measures Pass House Panel

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
Wikimedia Commons
/
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

The House Criminal Justice Subcommitteeon Wednesday supported, in near party-line votes, two proposals backed by gun-rights supporters.

One measure (HB 779) would reduce the penalty from a second-degree misdemeanor to a $25 civil fine for people with concealed-weapons licenses who expose their handguns. The fine would grow to $500 for a second offense and go back to a second-degree misdemeanor on the third offense.

The second measure (HB 849) would allow people with concealed-weapons licenses to carry at private religious schools. Rep. Neil Combee, an Auburndale Republican who is sponsoring both measures, called them compromises that "do not go as far as I would like."

Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, called HB 779 a "common sense solution" for often-heard complaints that people inadvertently expose firearms they are legally allowed to carry.

"Things happen, you take your jacket off or you know you may move a certain way," Harrell says. But Democrats expressed concern the proposal is a "toe in the door" to allowing people to openly carry guns in the state.