Overview

• A First District Court of Appeal panel on Sept. 10 struck down Florida’s 1987 open-carry prohibition under the U.S. Supreme Court’s Bruen framework and vacated Stanley McDaniels’s conviction.
• Attorney General James Uthmeier told prosecutors and police to stop arrests and prosecutions under the statute, said the decision binds trial courts statewide, and said his office will not defend such cases.
• Sheriffs and police agencies across Florida have halted enforcement and begun retraining, and the Florida Sheriffs Association advised all 67 sheriffs to cease arrests under the invalidated ban.
• Restrictions still apply in locations such as schools, courthouses, polling places and other government sites, and private property owners, including Walt Disney World, continue to prohibit firearms on their premises.
• Gov. Ron DeSantis lauded the ruling, gun-rights groups urged lawmakers not to add new limits, and Democrats and some sheriffs voiced public-safety concerns, with potential future court or legislative actions still in play.