Florida’s Ron DeSantis is the Model for How a Pro-Gun Governor Operates

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Ron DeSantis
(AP Photo/John Raoux)

Every morning as I don my Staccato 9mm and my Microtech automatic knife without any permits or paperwork cluttering my wallet, I realize that these freedoms would never have taken place without the honest pro-gun leadership of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Law-abiding Floridians no longer need to apply in writing or pay a state fee to carry a concealed weapon. Gov. DeSantis saw to that. For the state’s millions of gun owners, our 46-year-old, soon-to-be-former governor has been a true friend.

Unfortunately, DeSantis is term-limited and barred from running again. Fortunately, during his terms in office, the good governor gave gun owners one heck of a good ride. Let’s take a close look at his pro-gun accomplishments.

Permitless Concealed Carry

On April 3, 2023, in Florida’s state capitol of Tallahassee, Gov. DeSantis signed House Bill (HB) 543, which strengthened Floridians’ Second Amendment rights by allowing concealed weapons to be carried without a state permit.

Concealed-carry permits are still available, but are no longer required.

“Constitutional Carry is in the books,” Desantis said at the time.

Florida became the 26th state to enact concealed-carry legislation. However, Open Carry remains prohibited. According to state law, Floridians may only carry an exposed handgun “while traveling to or from fishing, camping, hunting or target shooting.”

“Would be great to see it hit my desk — Florida needs to join the overwhelming majority of states and protect this right,” DeSantis posted about Open Carry on X.

DeSantis has promised he would change this and sign Open Carry legislation; however, the state’s Republican-led legislature has never given him a bill to sign, and they have never fully explained why.

Some believe tourism — Disney and the beaches — as well as the powerful Florida Sheriffs Association could be the reasons why millions of Floridians do not yet enjoy all of their Second Amendment rights.

Florida State Guard

In December 2021, while Joe Biden occupied the White House, DeSantis created the Florida State Guard, a 200-member volunteer paramilitary force that answered to him, not Joe Biden.

The Florida State Guard assists the Florida National Guard in state emergencies.

DeSantis noted that the Florida State Guard was not “encumbered by the federal government,” and that the unit would give him “the flexibility and the ability needed to respond to events in our state in the most effective way possible.”

Florida, he pointed out, has always been one of the most pro-military and veteran-friendly states.

“We are proud of our veterans and active-duty military members and proud of what our communities do to support them,” DeSantis said in a press release. “Florida is one of the most veteran friendly states and I think there are very few places that you would rather be on duty than in the state of Florida. As a veteran, I really appreciate what everyone who wears the uniform does in our state and am excited about these proposals – they will go a long way and have a meaningful impact. In Florida, we are going to continue our momentum of supporting our military, supporting our veterans and being good stewards of our military installations.”

Other 2A Actions

Last May, DeSantis ended a confusing portion of state law that automatically imposed reprehensible firearm restrictions during a local state of emergency.

Previously, during an “emergency arising from a threat of violence or public disorder,” any sale of firearms or ammunition became illegal. Also, only law enforcement or the military were allowed to possess firearms in a public place.

DeSantis ended all of this foolishness with a signature.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Monique Miller, (R-Palm Bay), said in February, “By removing these automatic restrictions, the bill ensures that lawful gun owners are not preemptively barred from exercising their Second Amendment rights during times of crisis.”

Other pro-gun legislation signed by DeSantis was also needed.

He signed a bill that created a Second Amendment tax holiday for the state, which will run from September 8 to December 31, and will include firearms, ammunition as well as other outdoor items.

The move is expected to save Florida gun buyers up to $8 million.

DeSantis also signed multiple bills related to school safety. One law now requires local law enforcement to attend on-campus active shooter drills.

SF-tabbed Lt. Governor

Just this week, DeSantis swore in Republican state Senator Jay Collins, (R-Tampa), to serve as Florida’s lieutenant governor.

DeSantis made the announcement at the Tampa Green Beret Association.

“What I was looking for is someone that can be lieutenant governor that will help us deliver more wins for the people of Florida — and then also that is capable of serving and leading as governor, if that need were ever to arise,” DeSantis said.

Collins was an astounding pick. He served as an Army Special Forces Medical Sergeant, an 18-Delta, until he lost a leg in Afghanistan. However, he came back after being wounded and served five more years as a fully deployable Green Beret using a prosthetic leg.

Collins, too, has a solid Second Amendment record. He has sponsored several gun-friendly bills. He targeted anti-gun legislation passed in Florida after the 2018 Parkland school shooting, and sought to lower the state’s minimum firearm purchase age back to 18.

Red Flag Law opposition

Florida’s Red Flag law, known officially as the extreme risk protection order, or ERPO, clearly violates the Second Amendment. The law allows law enforcement or a gun owner’s family to petition a court to allow law enforcement to enter a home and remove guns from someone accused of being a “danger to themselves or others.”

It only allows gun owners to seek return of their property after their rights have been violated.

DeSantis has tried to get the law overturned.

“If you look at this red flag law that was passed, they can go in and say, ‘this person’s a danger, they should have their firearms taken away,’ which is property in addition to being something connected with a constitutional right,” DeSantis said in March. “The burden shifts where you have to prove to a court that you are not a menace or a threat. That’s not the way due process works.”

Florida’s red flag legislation was signed into law by former Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican who is now a United States Senator.

 

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This story is part of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project and is published here with their permission.

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17 thoughts on “Florida’s Ron DeSantis is the Model for How a Pro-Gun Governor Operates”

      1. top secret

        I appreciate .40 cal aggregating news articles. I don’t have the time to check every site so I appreciate him posting articles. It’s an open comment section.

        Reply
  4. .40 cal Booger

    Matthew Walker Anderson Walks Free from “Ghost Gun” Charges.

    ”
    …
    A three-year legal nightmare is finally over for Matthew Walker Anderson after the charges for owning two privately made firearms (PMF) without serial numbers were dropped by the state.

    In May 2022, Mr. Anderson was target shooting with a friend on private property in Sherburne County, Minnesota. A neighbor who lived a half mile away heard the shooting and called the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Department. A deputy from the SCSD responded to investigate the complaint of gunshots. They approached Anderson and his friend. The two men invited the deputies onto the property to check out the range because they were confident that they were not breaking any laws.

    After the deputy determined that the range was safe and no laws were being broken, they asked to see the firearms. Mr. Anderson, knowing the law, knew his guns were legal under state and federal law. The deputy noticed that the firearms didn’t have serial numbers. Mr. Anderson explained that they were PMFs and did not require serialization. The deputy disagreed, and later Anderson would be arraigned on two separate felony charges for each firearm for violating Minnesota’s law on the serialization of guns. The state law makes it illegal for someone to remove or alter the serial number of a firearm. The two PMFs in question never had a serial number to remove or alter.
    …
    While going through legal hell and uncertainty, another case, State of Minnesota v. Vagle, made it to the Minnesota State Supreme Court. That case dealt with criminal charges for having a gun with no serial number that was homemade. Mr. Vagle lost at the District Court and Appeals Court level, but the State Supreme Court ruled that the serialization law doesn’t apply to any firearm that doesn’t have a federal requirement for a serial number. The reason for the decision is the state statute referencing federal law.
    …
    Because of the Minnesota State Supreme Court decision in Minnesota v. Vagle, the state decided to dismiss the case, knowing now a conviction would be impossible. Mr. Anderson can now rest without a proverbial Sword of Damocles hanging over his head. The Minnesotan and law-abiding citizen can finally build back his life.
    …”

    https://www.ammoland.com/2025/08/matthew-walker-anderson-walks-free-from-ghost-gun-charges/

    Reply
    1. Hush

      It is cases like this that makes it harder to show respect for or trust some LEOs. It is as if many in enforcement think American citizens are the enemy of some sort. Simple as simple can be, yet these leos made something out of nothing. And they(leos) wonder why some folk don’t trust, like or respect them! The authority has gone to the head of many and they quickly show their as(s).

      Reply
  5. .40 cal Booger

    Uphill Battle To Gut the National Firearms Act: What Challenges New Lawsuits Face ~ VIDEO.

    ”
    …
    On the surface, the strategy looks simple—if the NFA’s tax was its constitutional fig leaf, removing the tax should make the law vulnerable.

    However, as independent gun-rights attorney Matt Larosiere explained in The Weekly Reload podcast, winning these cases is a lot more complicated.
    …
    Two Lawsuits, Two Approaches

    The NRA’s case, filed by the law firm Cooper & Kirk, combines two claims:

    Tax and Spend Clause Challenge – Arguing that without a real tax, the NFA exceeds Congress’s constitutional taxing authority.
    Second Amendment Challenge – Claiming that regulating suppressors and short-barreled rifles violates the right to keep and bear arms.

    The GOA-led case focuses entirely on the tax argument. Both rely on the idea that if no revenue is collected, the NFA can no longer be justified under Congress’s taxing power—a power Congress explicitly cited when the NFA passed in 1934.
    Why Tax Challenges Are Tough

    Larosiere knows these arguments well—he’s brought similar cases before. The problem, he says, is that tax challenges must clear multiple legal hurdles. Courts don’t just ask, “Is there still a tax?” They also examine:

    Burden – Is the “tax” so heavy it’s more like a punishment?
    Intent – Does it require proof of knowing violation, like a criminal law?
    Enforcement – Is it enforced more like a criminal penalty than a revenue measure?

    Even with the tax cut to $0, the NFA still collects revenue elsewhere—manufacturers and importers still pay annual occupational taxes, and machine guns and destructive devices still carry the $200 transfer tax. That means a judge could see these sections as part of an intact tax structure, not a dead letter.

    As Larosiere put it, the change ‘takes a grain of difficulty off’ the tax challenge, but it’s far from a knockout punch.
    …”

    https://www.ammoland.com/2025/08/uphill-battle-to-gut-national-firearms-act-challenges-new-lawsuits-face/

    Reply
  6. .40 cal Booger

    Seattle Waterfront Shooting Over “Stolen Valor” Veteran Shot & Shooter Arrested, Claims Self Defense ~ VIDEO

    ”
    …
    The shooter, later identified as 32-year-old Gregory William Timm, accused 68-year-old wheelchair-bound street musician Harold James Powell of “stolen valor” — falsely claiming military service. The exchange escalated as Timm took a veteran patch from Powell’s belongings, prompting Powell to arm himself with a knife and have a holstered airsoft pistol at his side. Witnesses say Powell never raised or pointed the airsoft gun, but Timm stepped back, and according to news reports, pulled a .45-caliber handgun from his bag, and shot Powell point-blank in the chest.

    Powell survived the shooting, but the violent encounter — captured on multiple cell phone videos — has sparked both a legal fight over self-defense and public debate over when armed citizens should, and should not, draw or use their weapons.
    …”

    [note: some you you might recognize the name of the shooter – Gregory William Timm. He is the violent left winger who rammed a van into a registration tent for President Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign outside a Jacksonville Walmart in the in the parking lot of the Kernan Village shopping center on Atlantic Boulevard. Fortunately no one was injured. In this shooting, Timm created the condition under which he used deadly force by being verbally combative with the wheelchair bound victim then approaching in a hostile manner to take a patch from the man prompting the victim to reveal a knife then an air-soft pistol in a holster in ‘defense’ against what looks to be a very hostile Timm willing to approach and physically at least ‘touch’ to steal thus able to also be close enough to assault. So maybe the victim was in fear, but you can see in the video he struggled to pull out any type of defensive weapon from his bag. The shooting happened July 31 in front of multiple witnesses. Gregory William Timm’s attorney suggested it was self-defense, according to KIRO 7 News in Seattle. A judge found probable cause for assault and robbery.]

    Reply
    1. .40 cal Booger

      Man in wheelchair is shot in Seattle by man who rammed Trump tent in Jacksonville in 2020.

      ”
      …
      A man who rammed a van into a tent for President Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign outside a Jacksonville Walmart is in jail again after witnesses recorded him on video shooting a man in a wheelchair in front of Starbucks in Seattle.

      The shooting happened July 31 in front of multiple witnesses. Gregory William Timm’s attorney suggested it was self-defense, according to KIRO 7 News in Seattle. A judge found probable cause for assault and robbery.

      The 32-year-old remained in the King County jail on $750,000, the station reported in a follow-up story on Aug. 12 about video being released by prosecutors showing the confrontation.

      Timm is seen confronting Harold James Powell, an older musician who regularly performs for donations along the waterfront. Prosecutors say Timm accused Powell of “stolen valor,” falsely claiming to have served in the military, according to KIRO 7.
      …
      Timm asks to see his military identification, but while Powell is opening his wallet, he takes a veteran patch from him, prosecutors said in another Cox Media Group story by Action News Jax.

      ‘This caused the victim to arm himself with a knife,’ court documents state according to Action News. ‘The defendant continued to demand the victim show him his ID, and the victim pulled out a holstered airsoft gun.’

      Timm steps back, pulls out a gun of his own and shoots him in the chest, yelling at him about pulling a gun on him, the video shows. Powell was listed in serious but stable condition.

      Timm, described as a drifter, was detained at the scene.
      …”

      https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/crime/2025/08/13/man-who-rammed-trump-tent-in-jacksonville-is-jailed-in-seattle-shooting/85640525007/

      [note: This is not self-defense. The crazy violent left winger Timm created the condition, its not self defense if you create the condition under which you are prompted to use deadly force. Timm verbally attacked, and provoked a confrontation with, a disabled man in a wheel chair who it seems did his best to prepare for what looks like [being in fear of] a coming assault [reasonable reasoning, considering the aggressive nature of Timm and his ability to approach in an aggressive hostile threatening manner and having a decisive physical advantage over a disabled man in a wheel chair].

      [given the last two months, with thousands of violent acts by left wingers in videos of the no-kings protest and repeated calls and threats from democrat politicians and left wingers for ‘blood in the streets’ and ‘civil war’ and ‘death to MAGA’ and ‘all conservatives should be killed’ – and now a violent left winger with no respect for human life at all in trying to injure or kill people previously with his van deliberately provokes a confrontation with a disabled man in a wheel chair then shoots the victim — I think its time we start thinking about banning these democrat politicians and radical left wingers and remove them from society before they get out of control with their mental illness and we need to start shooting them to stop them from injuring or killing us or our loved ones.]

      Reply
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