Overview
- Judge Frank Ledee held that Florida’s prohibition on concealed carry by 18- to 20-year-olds violates the Second Amendment as applied in the case before him.
- He dismissed the felony charge against Joel Andrew Walkes, 19, after finding the state failed the required historical-tradition showing under recent Supreme Court guidance.
- The ruling concludes that the Second Amendment’s text covers concealed carry and notes that 18-year-olds are treated as adults for voting, marriage and military service.
- The Broward State Attorney’s Office is reviewing the order, and legal experts say the decision currently binds only the Walkes case with appeals expected.
- The move follows a separate appeals-court decision that removed Florida’s open-carry ban in late September, reflecting a rapidly shifting firearms-carry landscape in the state.