FL: Open Carry March Draws Hundreds of Second Amendment Supporters

Hundreds of men women and children participated in an open carry march in Florida on the 4th of July.  On video posted on facebook, you can see the march stretching into the distance in front of and in back of the camera. You can also see the wfla video posted on wfla.com.  It is taken at a corner. That perspective makes the march look much smaller. From wfla.com:

INVERNESS, FL (WFLA) – More than 300 people marched through the streets of Inverness in Citrus County to show their support for the Second Amendment on the morning of Fourth of July.

Many carried American flags on this Independence Day, and all marchers carried loaded guns.“I believe in the American right to be able to bear arms and not have anybody try to take them away,” said participant Terry Stimpfling.

The march is particularly impressive because of the temperature.  In the screenshot from wfla.com, you can see the temperature in the lower right at 88 degrees F.  In humid Florida, that is very hot.  The march route was five miles long.  We do not know if everyone participated for the entire  five miles.  No heat injuries were reported.  This shows good planning on the part of the march coordinators.

Florida is one of only a handful of states that ban the regular open carry of firearms.  Florida's ban is relatively recent.  It was put in place in a special session of the Florida legislature after heavy lobbying by then Dade County (Miami) state AG Janet Reno.  Reno became the Clinton administration's infamous AG, of the Waco massacre, the Microsoft prosecution, and the leak against Richard Jewel.  

An  open carry bill came close to passing in the Florida legislature this year.  It had the support of a large majority of the House and Senate, but was blocked in committee by Senator Portilla (R) Miami.

A case challenging the open carry ban is being heard in the Florida Supreme Court at present.

Open carry marches proved successful in Texas last year when the Texas legislature passed licensed open carry after thousands of organized marches throughout the state. 

If Florida repeals the ban on open carry, less than a handful of stares will continue the archaic infringement on Second Amendment rights.  Those states will be New York, Illinois, California, and South Carolina.  It is doubtful that the ban on open carry in South Carolina will stand for long.

When South Carolina restores the Second Amendment rights to open carry, the remaining states will be those that contain the urban centers of Second Amendment infringement in the United States.  In New York, New York City; in Illinois, Chicago.  In California, Los Angeles and San Francisco.  Dishonorable mention can be made of Washington D.C. which also bans open carry. Without the disarmist activists in those five cities, there would not be a significant disarmist movement in the United States.

Definition of  disarmist

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