Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law on Monday that permits the carrying of concealed firearms without a permit.
The state Senate passed House Bill 543 by a 27-13 vote last week, opening the door for permitless concealed carry. DeSantis reportedly signed the bill shortly after 10 a.m. on Monday, before local press was notified that he had received it, The Florida Times-Union reports.
“Constitutional Carry is in the books,” DeSantis said in a statement.
The new law will go into effect on July 1. When it takes effect, those eligible for a gun license need only a valid ID to carry a concealed weapon in Florida. Failure to present a valid ID will be penalized with a $25 fine.
The bill also received heavy Republican support in the House, where it passed by a 76-32 vote.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre condemned DeSantis and the new law, calling it the “opposite of commonsense gun safety.”
It is shameful that so soon after another tragic school shooting, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a permitless concealed carry bill behind closed doors, which eliminates the need to get a license to carry a concealed weapon,” she said in a statement.
“The people of Florida — who have paid a steep price for state and congressional inaction on guns from Parkland to Pulse Nightclub to Pine Hills — deserve better.”
DeSantis’ signature hit paper about a week after the 130th mass shooting in the United States this year, according to The New York Times. That shooting took place at The Covenant School in Nashville, where 28-year-old Audrey Hale killed three children and three adults while armed with two assault rifles and a handgun.
DeSantis, whom is forecast by many to be a Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election, has taken a position opposite President Joe Biden on gun laws. Biden passed an executive order last month intended to curb gun violence. It increased the scrutiny of gun dealers and stepped up extreme risk protection orders, also referred to as red-flag laws.
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