Article first appeared at Ammo Land.

Florida –-(Ammoland.com)- The first, and arguably the most important pro-Second Amendment rights bill of the 2017 legislative session is about to be heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 10th at 2 pm.

Florida Carry urges you to contact committee members to tell them you want their support for this crucial bill.

Senator Steube’s bill regains some of the ground lost since shall-issue became lawful in 1987.

Open Carry – The legislature took this away in 1987 after the fear-mongering of Janet Reno and a complicit media whined loud enough. In a special session called for budgetary issues, without debate or public discussion, the legislature replaced the Right to bear arms with a license to conceal handguns and other non-firearm defensive weapons. The right to choose the appropriate method of carry was taken from you. This has resulted in the arrest of scores of law-abiding licensees, whose only crime was their handgun became visible. Law enforcement presumes any visible firearm is unlawful, and regardless of those exceptions in FS 790.25(3), can and has arrested licensees, sometimes so forcefully that permanent injury has been sustained by the carrier. An exception for “brief exposure” added in 2011 has been ineffective at stopping the harassment, arrest, and prosecution of gun owners. Even hiking in the predator-filled Everglades with a visible firearm has been used as grounds for arrest and prosecution. Open carry is lawful in 45 states, 30 of which respect the Right to Bear Arms by not requiring a license. NONE of the suggested carnage of the anti-Second Amendment lobby has occurred on those states.

Campus Carry – The bill removes the prohibition against licensee carry at schools, including K-12, Career Center, and College education facilities. (a “Career Center” is commonly known as a Technical College or Trade School) Even mere seconds awaiting armed response potentially means lives lost. In the overwhelming number of cases, school attackers have immediately surrendered or committed suicide upon arrival of an armed opponent. To date, no school shooting attack has been committed by a licensed student or parent in any state.

Airport Carry – The bill removes the prohibition against licensee carry inside the passenger terminal of an airport, a condition which citizens in 44 states enjoy. There were 633 violent crimes at Orlando International Airport last year. Current law forces a licensee to leave his firearm in his vehicle, vulnerable to theft, and traverse frequently dimly lit parking garages unarmed simply to help family with their baggage. It DOES NOT allow licensees to carry past TSA checkpoints or onto airliners.

Government meetings – Current law prohibits licensed carry at meetings of state and local government. Even at the state capitol, licensees are allowed to carry in the halls and offices of the Legislature, but are forbidden from walking through a door into a Legislative meeting. Once again, law enforcement officers, who are six times more likely to commit a crime, are welcome. The bill removes this prohibition.

FLORIDA CARRY ENTHUSIASTICALLY SUPPORTS THIS GOOD BILL!

An important note on contacting your legislators:

We cannot stress enough the necessity of telling legislators how you feel they should vote. During the legislative sessions, we issue Action Alerts asking our members and supporters to take a few moments to contact legislators. Email addresses, subject line, and sample body are all included in these alerts to allow cut and paste into your email client.

Please take the few seconds it takes to send an email when you receive an Action Alert from Florida Carry. The failure or success of a bill can hinge on that simple act.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke

Please, take a few moments to ask the committee members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to support SB 140.

Remember that whether you contact the committee members either by email or by phone, to be courteous and respectful above all else. Be sure to keep your message brief, and thank them for their time.

In the subject line put: SUPPORT SB 140 – Support the Right to Bear Arms (Copy and Paste All email addresses into the “Send To” box) [email protected];

[email protected];

[email protected];

[email protected];

[email protected];

[email protected];

[email protected];

[email protected];

[email protected] Sample Body: Dear Senator, The Florida Concealed Weapons/Firearms License holder is statistically over six times more law-abiding than FL law enforcement officers. Unlike those officers however, we are afforded no qualified immunity or “professional courtesy” to keep our incidents of law violation so low. We are also acutely aware of the potential liability associated with the carry of a defensive weapon. During the 25 years in which the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services tracked license revocations due to a crime involving a firearm, a statistically insignificant 6/1000ths of 1 percent were revoked for that reason. So insignificant was this number when compared with over 2 million licenses issued during the period, the division stopped counting in 2012. It is simply unacceptable to continue to subject this state-vetted group to be unnecessary victims of violent crime in so-called “gun free zones” where criminals know that their victims will be unarmed. Florida’s Ban on Open Carry is also long overdue for repeal, Illinois, New York and California style gun control should have no place in Florida Law. Yet we remain one of only 5 states in the nation that ban the Open Carry of defensive handguns. Florida used to be a National Leader on the Right to Bear Arms. We have fallen behind to become, in many ways, one of the most anti-Second Amendment States in our great Nation. Please support SB 140. Respectfully,

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About Florida Carry:

Florida Carry, Inc. is a non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots organization dedicated to advancing the fundamental rights of all Floridians to keep and bear arms for self-defense as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 2 and 8 of the Florida Constitution. Florida Carry stands to represent our supporters, members, and millions of defensive arms owners of Florida. We are not beholden to any national organization’s agenda that may compromise that mission.

Florida Carry works tirelessly toward striking down ill-conceived gun and weapons control laws that have been proven to provide safe havens to criminals and be deadly to law-abiding citizens.