Of the many traditions Ben Albritton is continuing as Senate President, at least one isn’t going to please Second Amendment purists.
He confirmed that like his predecessor, he will not support open carry legislation even if Gov. Ron DeSantis does.
“I’ve supported law enforcement my entire life. It’s the way I was raised. And I’ve been super consistent as a legislator to support law enforcement in Florida, and I encourage you to check that record,” Albritton said during a media scrum immediately after his installation as Senate President.
“They oppose it. I trust my law enforcement officials, and that’s where I stand.”
Albritton’s explanation for opposing open carry is identical to that for former Senate President Kathleen Passidomo. She told reporters during a news conference in March 2023 that because the Florida Sheriffs Association was against it, she was too.
“The Sheriffs who I deeply respect, who are in the business, who understand the issues, do not support open carry in the state of Florida,” she said, adding that the organization did support permitless carry, which lawmakers passed last year.
Gary Fineout of POLITICO first flagged Albritton’s Tuesday comments on X.
The push for looser gun laws like open carry — which, as its name suggests, would allow lawful gun owners to tote weapons in plain view rather than conceal them — has regained traction in recent months.
In August, a pair of gun rights groups and a Palm Beach County resident filed a federal lawsuit challenging Florida’s law prohibiting open carry, calling it a “blatant infringement of the Second Amendment right to ‘bear arms.’”
The following month, Palm Bay Republican Sen. Randy Fine vowed to file legislation to repeal statutes requiring that state college and university campuses be “gun-free zones” after a group of Jewish students were attacked with a glass bottle in Pennsylvania.
DeSantis, who supported and signed the permitless carry measure, indicated this month that he’s open to taking things a step further.
During an on-air segment with radio host Bob Rose of 97.3 WSKY, who said he’d “much rather have open carry than weed,” referring to the since-failed Amendment 3 ballot question, DeSantis said, “You may get that in this upcoming Legislative Session. Stay tuned on that.”
Albritton shot down hopes for such a bill hitting the Governor’s desk next year. But he expressed less disinterest in reconsidering a proposal to re-lower the minimum age for long rifle purchases from 21 to 18.
A House bill to do that — effectively reversing a standard lawmakers approved after the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School — died in the waning days of the 2024 Session because it lacked a Senate companion.
Were a Senator to do that for next year, Albritton said his chamber would “take a close look at it and see what the implications are.”
“But at the end of the day,” he said, “it’s due real caution.”
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