In a guidance memorandum issued September 15, 2025, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) pointed to a First District Court of Appeal (1st DCA) ruling and made clear open carry is now “the law of the state.”
Breitbart News reported that on September 10, 2025, a three-judge panel of Florida’s 1st DCA weighed the state’s ban on open carry via the test set forward in Bruen (2022) and found that the constitution protects the right to carry a gun openly for self-defense.
Judge Stephanie Ray wrote the panel’s opinion, noting that the Second Amendment “does not distinguish between modes of carry” when it addresses the right to bear arms. She stated, “Florida’s Open Carry Ban is therefore inconsistent with the plain text of the Second Amendment.”
On September 15, 2025, AG Uthmeier posted his guidance memorandum to X, along with text that said:
I’m issuing guidance to Florida’s prosecutors and law enforcement in light of the 1st DCA’s decision in McDaniels v. State.
Because no other appellate court has considered the constitutionality of Florida’s open carry ban since the SCOTUS decision in Bruen, the 1st DCA’s decision is binding on all Florida’s trial courts.
Meaning that as of last week, open carry is the law of the state.
On April 3, 2023, Breitbart News reported that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation making Florida the 26th constitutional carry state in the Union. However, unlike many of the other constitutional carry states–the total of which is now 29–Florida’s law only applied to concealed carry at the time of signing; there was no Florida law allowing the open carry of handguns.
In light of the 1st DCA’s ruling and AG Uthmeier’s memorandum, Florida now has true constitutional carry.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly: [email protected].
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