Florida's Latest News

Openly carrying a firearm is now officially legal in Florida, AG says

Florida is officially an open carry state.

That’s according to Attorney General James Uthmeier, who said that a recent decision by the First District Court of Appeals that deemed the state’s open carry ban unconstitutional and incompatible with the Second Amendment is binding on all Florida’s trial courts.

“In McDaniels v. State, the First District Court of Appeal struck down Florida’s ban on open carry, finding that ‘law-abiding, adult citizens’ have a right to carry ‘firearm[s] openly in public’ under the Second Amendment...the First District’s decision is binding on all Florida’s trial courts," a letter posted to X by Uthmeier read, in part.

Uthmeier’s announcement comes a few days after multiple law enforcement agencies in Northeast Florida said their deputies were instructed after the appeals court’s ruling not to enforce the state law banning residents from openly carrying their guns.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Bradford County Sheriff’s Office, St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, and Columbia County Sheriff’s Office were among the agencies to release statements saying their employees were told not to enforce the open carry ban.

Collier Co. lawmakers on board with Adam Botana’s restructure plan for Naples Airport Authority

Collier County lawmakers have advanced legislation to change the course of Naples airport oversight.

Rep. Adam Botana, a Bonita Springs Republican, presented a local bill to the Collier County legislative delegation that would restructure the Naples Airport Authority (NAA) as an elected body rather than have Naples City Council members appoint its members.

“This is the homiest of home rule because it gives it to the people,” Botana said.

The delegation voted 4-0 to advance the legislation. It will now be filed as a bill and directed to the appropriate committees during the Regular Session.

Botana’s bill would also require all members of the authority to be Collier County residents, with three of five living in the city and the other two in the county.

Florida utility regulators nix 'counter proposal' in FPL rate case

As they consider a proposed settlement that would increase Florida Power & Light's base electric rates, state regulators will not take up a "counter proposal" offered by opponents.

On Friday, Florida Public Service Commission Chairman Mike La Rosa issued an order dismissing a competing settlement proposal filed by the state Office of Public Counsel — which is designated by law to represent utility customers — and some consumer groups.

The Office of Public Counsel and the allied consumer groups are fighting a proposed settlement that FPL reached last month with numerous businesses and groups. The Public Service Commission on Oct. 6 will start what could be a two-week hearing on the FPL proposal and is expected to issue a decision later in the fall.

La Rosa, who is the case’s prehearing officer, pointed in Friday’s order to FPL’s opposition to the counter proposal and said all of the parties in the case “readily acknowledge that the Florida Public Service Commission has never before considered a settlement agreement filed in a rate case that does not include as a party the utility that has requested the rate increase.”

Bill orders a study on whether Ocala National Forest should be a national park. What's it say?

U.S. Rep. Randy Fine of Florida has introduced legislation that could eventually lead to designating the vast Ocala National Forest and surrounding springs as a national park. But at this point, he only recommends that a study be conducted.

Here's a summary of the legislation:

H. R. 4656 is the “Path to Florida Springs National Park Act.”

The bill directs the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study to determine the suitability and feasibility of establishing "Florida Springs National Park" in Central and North Florida.

The study area encompasses approximately 2,800 square miles of land in Florida, located south of Jacksonville, north of Orlando, and east of Gainesville.