by Florida Carry has been doing yeoman’s work down in the State of Florida on the issue of carry – both open and concealed. They are currently supporting a case, Norman v. State, which is an appeal from a county court’s ruling that Dale Norman, a legal and licensed concealed carry permit holder, violated that Florida’s open carry ban when his pistol showed under his concealment garment. The appeal has been accepted by the Florida 4th Circuit Court of Appeals as a constitutional challenge.
However, it seems that certain anti-gun elements within the Florida Attorney General’s Office are trying to scuttle that challenge from being heard. Florida Carry notes that Florida AG Pam Bondi has generally been very pro-gun and is not behind this move. They also note that certain local State Attorneys (Angela Corey comes to mind) are vigorously prosecuting open carry cases.
From their release sent out yesterday:
Assistant
Attorney
Generals
and
Local
State
Prosecutors
are out
of
control
in
fighting
against
the
Second
Amendment.
Once
again
the
anti-gun
elements
in
the
Florida
Attorney
General’s
office
are
attempting
to scuttle the
appeal
in
the
case
of
Norman
v.
State.
The
Norman
case
is
the
only
viable
case
in
the
country
arguing
for
recognition
of
the
constitutional
right
to
open carry.Since
the
appeal
was
first
brought,
the
West
Palm
Beach
Office
of
the
Attorney
General
has
repeatedly
attempted
to
derail
the
case
based
on
procedural
arguments
that
the
lower
court
did
not
properly
certify
its
questions
of
great
public
importance.
The
AG’s
office
even
appealed
the
case
to
the
Florida
Supreme
Court
in
an
attempt
to
keep
the
Fourth
District
Court
of
Appeals
from
hearing
the
case.
They
want
the
case
heard
by a
Circuit
Court
where
a
recognition
of
the
right
to
carry
will
not
have
state-wide
effect
and
will
be
decided
by
only
one
local judge.A
request
was
sent
to
the
Assistant
Attorney
General
in
Palm
Beach
asking
them
to
consent
to
the
lower
Court
amending
its
judgement
to
include
the
certified
question
in
the
order
of
Judgement
and
Sentence
to
correct
the
AG’s
claimed
procedural
defect
that
may exist.Their
response:
We
(the
Attorney
General’s
Office)
will
take
“no
position”…If
the
AG’s
office
wanted
to
take
a
pro-Second
Amendment
position
and
was
truly
trying
to
correct
an
alleged
procedural
error
by
the
lower
court
it,
would
have
consented.
Instead,
they
punted.To
quote
George
Carlin,
“It’s
all
BS,
and
it’s
bad
for you.”No
credible
organization
could
question
the
pro-gun
record
of
Florida
Attorney
General
Pamela
Bondi
who
has
signed
on
to
support
many
important
federal
amicus
briefs
to
the
U.S.
Supreme
Court
that
were
filed
by
other
state’s
AGs,
but
her
own
office
is
apparently
in
need
some
deep
house cleaning.The
ruling
and
intent
of
the
lower
court
is
clear,
that
this
case
be
reviewed
by
a
panel
of
appellate
court
judges
as
a
matter
of
great
public
importance
that
impacts
thousands
of
law
enforcement
officers
and
millions
of
gun owners.The
Attorney
General
needs
to
get
her
anti-gun
and
anti-self-defense
underlings
in
line
if
she
wants
the
support
of
gun
owners
in
the
coming
election.Florida
concealed
carry
licensees
and
others
who
lawfully
possess
firearms
are
being
arrested
and
prosecuted
at
an
alarming
rate.
The
problem
is
not
only
with
the
Attorney
General’s
office.In
two
cases
that
we
are
involved
with,
State
Attorney
Angela
Corey’s
office
is
wrongfully
prosecuting
lawful
gun
owners.In
the
first
case,
a
man
was
arrested
on
his
own
front
porch
for
having
a
handgun
in a
closed
bag…
While
finishing
moving.
Corey’s
office
claims
that
it
was
no
longer
his
home,
since
he
was
moving,
and
is
prosecuting
him
for
a
felony.In
the
second,
a
CWFL
licensee
has
been
sentenced
to
60
days
in
jail
for
an
open
carry
ban
violation
after
his
shirt
rode
up
over
his
holster
in a
store
exposing
his firearm.It
is
time
to
contact
Attorney
General
Bondi’s
office
and
politely
let
her
know
we
trust
and
support
her,
but
she
needs
to
show
her
commitment
to
the
Second
Amendment
by
cleaning
up
the
anti-gun
elements
in
her
office,
including
the
West
Palm office.For
Angela
Corey’s
part.
It’s
time
for
her
to
find
a
new
job.