The Florida Sheriffs Association may have come out against allowing open carry in the Sunshine State, but a Bay County Sheriff is up in arms over what he’s calling a “secret vote” taken by the FSA to oppose a new bill scheduled to hit the Florida Legislature in January.
The legislation is a tag-team effort from Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, and would allow roughly 1.4 million concealed carry permit holders to openly carry their firearms in Florida.
If passed, Florida would join 45 other states allowing open carry. Thirty states currently do not require any license to carry a firearm unconcealed and 15 states allow concealed permit holders to choose to carry openly or concealed at their own discretion.
Shortly after the open carry bill made its way through two committees, the FSA released the results of a survey which showed 70 percent of the state’s sheriffs were opposed to the bill. The Palm Beach Post reported 47 of the state’s 60 sheriffs voted against the legislation.
In order for the group to take an official stance on an issue, 60 percent of members must be in agreement.
The FSA said it believed the new law would make it difficult for police officers to ensure public safety and criticized the bills for omitting gun training and holstering requirements.
But one county sheriff, Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen, explained he wasn’t too happy about the group decision since he believes individuals should be allowed to voice their own opinions on whether they support the bill or not.
McKeithen told the News Herald he didn’t approve of the “blind vote” style, which doesn’t reveal how each individual sheriff voted on the issue. McKeithen himself said he abstained from voting and was one of five sheriffs to do so. By abstaining from voting, McKeithen said he wouldn’t be held accountable to his constituents, even though he is in favor of open carry.
“This individual subject should be addressed by individual sheriffs and not be based on a group opinion,” McKeithen told the Herald. “If I vote on something as significant as this, people should know how I voted.”
Other sheriffs have said they, too, would be in favor of the bill, despite the FSA’s official opposition against it.
“I don’t want our citizens to have to defend an attack that could have easily been avoided had they been able to clearly demonstrate to a waiting criminal that they are a hard target and not a soft target,” wrote Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey in a recent op-ed. “We as law enforcement leaders should be standing and proudly voicing our desire to ensure that all legislation meets the number one priority of government, to protect its citizens.”
The National Rifle Association, which is in favor of the legislation, questioned whether it was legal for members of the FSA, who are elected officials, to conduct a secret vote on the issue.
“Many have questioned whether, as elected officials, it is a violation of the state Sunshine law for sheriffs to walk out of the ‘sunshine’ into the shade of a secret vote on public policy issues that impact their constitutional duties and the rights of their constituents,” wrote former NRA president and current lobbyist Marion Hammer.
The Senate version of the bill still has two committees to pass through until the bill will be ready for the floor. Regular session begins in January.
Reach Allison Nielsen at allison@sunshinestatenews.com
