by Nikki Fried (D-FL) is the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture. As such, she is in control of the issuing of concealed carry permits for the State of Florida. She is also the only statewide Democrat office holder. She is an announced candidate for governor of Florida in 2022. Her announcement video mentions that she “kicked the NRA out of gun licensing” for “the children”.
When she ran for Commissioner of Agriculture in 2018 her major issues included medical marijuana and gun control. Fried has both a medical marijuana card and a Florida carry permit. She has contended under Florida law it is legal to have both. However, Federal law still prohibits the purchase as well as possession of firearms by those with medical marijuana cards. As a lawyer and former public defender one would think she would be careful about setting up people to run afoul of Federal firearms laws.
Today, Fried has gone a step further in playing politics with gun rights. She has suspended the carry permits of Floridians charged with involvement in the Jan. 6th riot at the US Capitol.
“The deeply disturbing events that occurred at our nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6 were sedition, treason and domestic terrorism — and those individuals involved in the insurrection must be held accountable for attempting to subvert our democratic process,” Fried said.
“Since charges began being filed, we are using our lawful authority to immediately suspend the licenses of 22 individuals involved in the storming of the U.S. Capitol. This is an ongoing effort, and as charges and sentences continue in the wake of this despicable attack, we will further suspend and revoke any additional licenses granted to insurrectionists.”
Florida law allows the suspension of carry licenses for those charged with a felony. However, many of those arrested for involvement in the riot have not yet been charged with any crime which calls into question whether Fried is acting outside the law. She certainly is playing politics with carry permits.
The article from Florida Politics goes on to note:
While Fried’s office by law cannot identify which individuals arrested have ever applied for or received a concealed carry permit, several of the individuals arrested were outspoken gun rights advocates.
It does make you wonder whether she is targeting only certain individuals. Fried certainly is using loaded language when she calls these people “insurrectionists”.