April 2023 - Page 3 of 3 -

Every Picture Tells A Story, Vol. 2, No. 2

The longest running series on this blog has been Every Picture Tells A Story which has been a collaboration between Rob Vance and myself. It started in October 2011 when Illinois was forced by the 7th Circuit to adopt concealed carry. I said at the time that shall-issue concealed carry was the new norm. The new norm now is permitless or unlicensed/unrestricted carry.

With the Bruen decision, we had to re-do the graphic as may issue was now off the table. At the time the graphic below was done, the formerly may-issue states had not begun to change their law to implement it with “all deliberate speed.” I am now calling this Every Picture Tells A Story, Vol. 2, No. 1. The numbering pattern of academic journals seems to be the most appropriate way to signify the evolution over time.

Of course, we now have states like New York that want to search years and years of your social media and other states like Maryland who want to expand the number of places you cannot carry. In essence, they are non-compliant with the Bruen decision. Eventually, one hopes the Supreme Court will slap down these states that are thumbing their nose at the Court.

In the meantime, here is Every Picture Tells A Story, Vol. 2, No. 2, which reflects the adoption of unlicensed concealed carry by the state of Florida today. I hope that this will change soon with the addition of Nebraska and perhaps one, if not both, of the Carolinas.

Rob added these stats to accompany the graphic:

26.8%	Non-compliant with 2nd Amendment per Bruen (CA,CT,DC,HI,MD,MA,NJ,NY,RI)
0.0%	No Issue
0.0%	May Issue goes away Post-Bruen
30.6%	Shall Issue (CO,DE,IL,LA,MI,MN,NC,NE,NM,NV,OR,PA,SC,VA,WA,WI)
42.6%	Unlicensed concealed carry

Almost three-fourths of all Americans now live in a state with either unlicensed concealed carry or shall-issue concealed carry. I never thought I’d see this when I started the blog in 2010 as only 48 states had any form of carry back then.

Florida Becomes Number 26

With the stroke of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R-FL) pen, Florida became the 26th state to allow permitless carry. The law will become effective on July 1st. We now have a majority of US states that allow permitless carry including two of the three largest.

Lee Williams, The Gun Writer, who is also a member of the board of Florida Carry had this to say:

The new law allows law-abiding Floridians to carry concealed handguns without seeking a Concealed Weapon or Firearm License, or CWFL, from the government. However, the state’s successful CWFL program will remain in effect. Today, more than 2.4 million Floridians have a CWFL.
The new law does not include a training requirement, which was a major concern for its critics. But neither does it change who is eligible to either purchase or carry a firearm. Its proponents say it “levels the playing field” for law abiding Floridians.
CS/HB 54 does not allow for the open carry of arms, which is why some said the legislation is not “constitutional carry” and did not go far enough.
The law was supported by NRA, GOA, NAGR and Florida Carry, Inc., pro-gun groups which have all promised to seek open carry legislation.

If there was ever a case of “don’t let perfect be the enemy of good” this was it. Getting permitless carry was the objective. Having true constitutional carry including unrestricted open carry would have been great but this is a great first step. It will become the stepping stone upon which open carry will eventually be approved.

Congratulations to all the civil rights activists in Florida who worked so hard and so long to get this passed. Thanks also goes to Gov. DeSantis for signing the bill and advancing the cause of the Second Amendment in the Sunshine State.

UPDATE: A photo of those that attended Gov. DeSantis’ signing of the bill. I notice a number of DC Project members in the photo.