Watch: Florida’s red flag law explained
Florida passed its red flag law in 2018 in the wake of the Parkland shooting, but many don’t quite know what it is.
Tim Walters, FLORIDA TODAY
State Rep. Joel Rudman, a Navarre Republican who is running for Congress in a special election, filed a bill Monday to allow guns to be carried openly in public in Florida.
In a Facebook post, Rudman – a family medicine practitioner – said it would also repeal Florida’s “red flag” law passed by lawmakers after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Broward County.
“My first bill has been filed for the 2025 Legislative Session,” Rudman stated. “And it reiterates my commitment to freedom and to the Constitution. My bill repeals Florida’s unconstitutional red flag laws and makes Florida an open carry state.”
The bill (HB 31) would also allow guns to be carried in polling places, on college campuses (known as ‘campus carry’) and in career centers – all places where firearms are currently banned under state law.
The red flag law allows friends or family members of an individual, or law enforcement officials themselves, to petition a court to confiscate their firearms if they’re deemed to be a threat to themselves or others.
Many sheriffs throughout the state support the law, saying it has helped them prevent shootings before they happen. The law was part of a series of reforms passed in the wake of the Parkland shooting, which left 17 dead, including 14 children.
The bill passed by the Legislature included funding for school safety measures and a program to allow teachers to be armed in schools, but it also raised the age to buy a rifle to 21 and banned bump stocks, devices that allow semi-automatic firearm to simulate the rapid firing of an automatic weapon.
Many Republicans blanched at the gun control measures in the bill and many voted against it, but it gained enough support to pass and then-Gov. Rick Scott signed it into law. As a U.S. senator, Scott has continued to defend the measures.
But other Republicans and gun advocates have consistently fought them. The National Rifle Association filed suit against the law the day it was signed. The suit is ongoing.
As a candidate in 2018, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he didn’t support the gun control measures in the new law. Efforts to repeal them, however, haven’t made it through the Legislature.
Open carry bills have also failed to pass in recent years. And Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, dampened the measure’s prospects for next year when he recently said he didn’t favor open carry.
He pointed to opposition in the past from law enforcement groups. Albritton has previously supported open carry, though. As a state House member, he co-sponsored a bill in 2016 to allow open carry and voted for it on the floor. The bill passed that chamber but never made it to the Senate floor.
Joel Rudman is running for Congress to replace Matt Gaetz
Rudman is running for a congressional seat based in the state’s western Panhandle. Its previous occupant, Matt Gaetz, resigned last month.
Gaetz was initially tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to be the next Attorney General but lacked the votes to get confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
There are 16 candidates for the 1st Congressional District, including Rudman, in the race to replace Gaetz. Ten of them are Republicans in the GOP-heavy district. Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis could have the inside track to the seat, having been endorsed by Trump, though he doesn’t live in the district.
Florida law requires elected officials to resign their current office to run for another office if the terms would overlap with their current seat.
The special election is set for April 1, with a primary to be held Jan. 28. Rudman’s resignation is effective Jan. 1, which would leave the bill in limbo after he leaves the Legislature. Another member could take over the bill or could file a similar measure, however.
“’Shall not be infringed’ will mean something here in the Gunshine state!” Rudman added in his post.
Gray Rohrer is a reporter with the USA TODAY Network-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at grohrer@gannett.com. Follow him on X: @GrayRohrer.