Originally Posted by
Hawkmoon
For whatever reason, firearms carry permits in Florida are issued by the Department of Agriculture. For equally obscure reasons, now that Florida has begun allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes, the issuance of medical marijuana cards also falls under the Department of Agriculture.
But the new Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture has decreed that her department will continue to issue permits to people who hold medical marijuana cards. The reason: a person with a medical marijuana card may get their permit (or get it renewed), but each day they possess or carry their sidearm they will be violating federal law. To put it more bluntly ... they will be committing a felony offense. If they ever have to use that firearm in a self defense situation, the legal fallout will undoubtedly be "interesting."
I parsed Hawkmoon's original post to just the relevant parts that I have knowledge of. I researched this extensively prior to the election, and during my recent training and application for my Concealed Weapons Permit. There are several key things in play here.
1. The Secretary of Agriculture is one of the most powerful positions in Florida. Primarily due to Florida's history B.D. (before Disney) as an agrarian state. Everything, and I mean everything, comes in whole or in part under the discretion of the Department of Agriculture. Welcome to southern politics.
2. Prior to being elected as Secretary of Ag, Nikki Fried was a professional lobbyist from Miami. Her political views skew very much to the left. Her two biggest clients were the "pro marijuana" movement, and The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence (she no likey guns).
3. By making this proclamation, that she knows to be illegal she sees a win-win. She gets to promote her marijuana agenda, while simultaneously setting up otherwise legal gun owners for legal disaster, thus scoring points with her Brady cronies.
And yes, to your other point, the Florida permit is a "weapons" permit, not just a "handgun" permit as other states. It covers tasers, pepper spray, collapsible batons, knives (fixed and folding) greater than 3 inches in length, etc. When the law was originally crafted, someone was smart enough to point out that a handgun carrier who also carried a knife as a backup would be immune on the gun charge, but still criminal on the knife possession, so that's the reason for "weapons" vs "handguns". From what I've been told, if you have your federal tax stamp you can carry a short barrel rifle, or a shotgun concealed as well.
And yes as Hawkmoon pointed out, even though we are known as the "gunshine" state, we are seeing more and more effort in Tallahassee to turn the tide and make us like California or New York. And the more confused the voters are, the less resistance those in power have. You have to stay vigilant.
"The 1911 was the design, given by God to us through John M. Browning, that represents the epitome of what a killing tool needs to be. It was true in 1911 and it's true now." - Col. Robert Coates commanding, U.S. Marine Corp Special Operations Command Detachment 1 (DET 1)
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