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PRESIDENTS CORNER December 2025 Hello Florida Sport Shooting Association Members, On behalf of the FSSA Directors, I extend warm wishes for a joyful Christmas, happy holidays, and a healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year. I would like to express sincere appreciation to each member of The Florida Sport Shooting Association and our affiliated clubs. Your commitment enables us to promote shooting events across the state, support junior and women’s programs, and assist individuals and teams participating at both the state and national levels. Your membership and contributions are vital to our continued success. During this holiday season, let us take a moment to acknowledge and offer gratitude for our first responders and the members of our armed forces who work diligently to ensure our safety and protect our freedoms. Our Second Amendment Freedoms are unique and special and offer each one of us many opportunities. Florida is truly a wonderful place to live and exercise our 2A Freedoms. Looking ahead to 2026, I encourage everyone to uphold those freedoms and share them with others as we are able. In this most important upcoming year, let us continue to do all we can to preserve and protect our most valued Second Amendment. Our Annual Members Meeting is Saturday, January 31 at Port Malabar Rifle and Pistol Club. You should be receiving your invitation and ballot in the mail in early January. Please respond, vote, and complete the proxy if you will not be attending. As we conclude 2025, I wish to convey my gratitude and say “Well Done” to our members, affiliated clubs, volunteers, instructors, coaches, and event coordinators whose efforts make numerous shooting and hunting opportunities possible throughout Florida. Finally, I extend special thanks to our FSSA Directors for their generous investment of time and expertise in furthering our association and its array of programs and shooting disciplines. It is a privilege to serve alongside you. Wishing you a wonderful holiday season. Ted Carter President, Florida Sport Shooting Association | RECENT NEWS UPCOMMING EVENTS
| TOP STORIES Open Carry Comes to FloridaMonday, September 22, 2025 https://www.nraila.org/articles/20250922/open-carry-comes-to-florida On September 10, the First District Court of Appeal of the State of Florida struck down the Sunshine State’s prohibition on open carry as a violation of the Second Amendment in the case McDaniel v. Florida. Enacted in 1987, the same year Florida became a Right-to-Carry state for concealed carry, the open carry statute (F.S.A. § 790.053) had provided that, with minor exceptions, “it is unlawful for any person to openly carry on or about his or her person any firearm or electric weapon or device.” The court’s decision rested on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the NRA-supported case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022). In Bruen, Justice Clarence Thomas’s opinion made clear that in order for a firearm regulation to survive a Second Amendment challenge, “the government must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.” The court in McDaniel made clear “the State has failed to carry its burden to show that Florida’s Open Carry Ban is consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.” The court went on to explain, On this record, the State has failed to carry its burden. It identifies no Founding-era law that broadly prohibited the open carry of firearms in public. Nor does it cite any historical regulation imposing a burden or justification comparable to Florida’s Open Carry Ban. At most, it has pointed to laws regulating the method or manner of carry, but those laws left intact the ability to bear arms openly for peaceable purposes. By contrast, Florida’s Open Carry Ban eliminates that option altogether and thus extends far beyond anything recognized in our historical tradition. On September 15, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier put out a guidance memorandum on open carry in Florida in which he explained that “the McDaniels decision is now the law of the State.” Demonstrating a commitment to upholding the Second Amendment rights of Floridians, Attorney General Uthmeier also made clear “We Believe the McDaniels decision correctly applied Second Amendment law as enunciated in Bruen.” Further, Attorney General Uthmeier instructed the criminal justice system throughout the state that, Because no Florida court will any longer be empowered to convict a defendant for violating Section 790.053(1), prudence counsels that prosecutors and law enforcement personnel should likewise refrain from arresting or prosecuting law-abiding citizens carrying firearms in a manner that is visible to others. Gun owners should know that Florida law prohibits otherwise lawful carry in certain sensitive locations. As Attorney General Uthmeier pointed out, some of these locations can be found at F.S.A. § 790.06(12)(a). Separate firearm location restrictions can be found at F.S.A. § 790.115 (“Possessing or discharging weapons or firearms at a school-sponsored event or on school property prohibited; penalties; exceptions”) and F.S.A. § 394.458 (hospitals providing mental health services). Moreover, F.S.A. § 790.10 prohibits brandishing, specifically, “having or carrying any… firearm… in a rude, careless, angry, or threatening manner, not in necessary self-defense.” Readers are encouraged to examine Attorney General Uthmeier’s full open carry guidance memorandum by clicking: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrelease/attorney-general-james-uthmeier-issues-guidance-open-carry-after-first-dca-decision |
