Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier recently revealed that his office is settling a lawsuit that will declare the state’s 3-day firearm ban unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. The news outraged some Florida residents, who believed that this change could impact the state’s overall safety.
The Florida AG wrote on social media that “every government office, including mine, exists to protect your God-given rights as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution,” revealing that he was settling a lawsuit started last year by the National Rifle Association (NRA). According to reports from Click Orlando, the AG’s office declined to defend the law, agreeing that it was unconstitutional.
The current Florida law requires any person who purchases a firearm to wait at least three business days before receiving the item. It applies even in cases where a person’s background check has been previously completed.
Florida Residents Are Not Happy with the AG Striking Down Gun Rule
Floridians on Reddit’s r/Florida had harsh words for Uthmeier, but many focused on the fact that he claimed that it was a “God-given right” to own firearms. One user said, “It bothers me when a government official says anything written in the Constitution is granted by ‘God’. God most def did not sign that.”
One local complained: “Pay no attention to the man behind the green curtain, or the fact that ‘God’ is not in the U.S. Constitution.” Another responded: “Or that the US isn’t mentioned in their bible. Or that the authors of the Constitution have quotes stating neutrality, neither favoring nor disfavoring any particular religion.”
Some Floridians seemed very concerned about the safety of residents, too, especially in the case of women: “Speaking as a woman, if I’m able to go buy a gun (3-day wait or not) to defend against a psychopathic BF, then I’m out of danger. (…) This gun rights nonsense is not making the world safer. It’s increasing the probability that the psychopathic BF shows up with a gun.”
Not everyone disagreed with the Florida AG’s conclusion, however. One user said, “The background checks show in a few minutes if there’s some reason you can’t buy a gun. The three days is an antiquated law that should be done away with.” It remains to be seen if this law will affect Florida’s overall safety or if the AG was correct in ditching an antiquated limitation of personal rights.
