WALTON COUNTY, Fl. (WMBB) — New state legislation could change gun laws. The proposed law would allow people to conceal carry without having a permit.
“The last two years it was not necessarily a priority for the legislative leadership,” Governor Ron DeSantis said.
But DeSantis said it is now a priority. Florida law does not require a permit to buy or own a gun. But owners must have permits to carry a gun.
Walton County Sheriff Mike Adkinson does not expect the potential change in law to lead to any problems for law enforcement.
“People that get permits are law-abiding citizens right,” Adkinson said. “And if you don’t have the permit, you’re already illegal. You’re doing this illegally. Now, it just really removes some of the paperwork and some of the backlog from our standpoint.”
Adkinson doesn’t believe it will put more guns in people’s hands. He said if people want a gun, they can obtain one legally or illegally.
“It’s not going put more guns on the street or anything of that nature because quite frankly, that’s not stopping them now,” Adkinson said.
Adkinson said he would not be in favor of open carry laws.
“I’m not in favor of open carry for a couple of reasons. It was a bad idea in Tombstone so it was probably a bad idea at Disneyworld, right?” Adkinson said. Florida’s, a tourism state.”
Despite a change in legislation, he said there may still be a reason to get a permit.
“A lot of people may still choose to get a permit so that they can travel out of state and have reciprocity with all of these states,” Adkinson said.
