CNN Apoplectic: Florida Requires Permit to Conceal Carry Handguns, Not Rifles and Shotguns

The day after the Parkland school shooting CNN’s Doug Criss expressed shock that the Florida does not require its residents to acquire a permit to “conceal carry a rifle or shotgun.”

CNN admits to getting some of their information from the NRA-ILA and the NRA-ILA’s guide to State Gun Laws shows Florida requiring a permit to carry a handgun concealed but no permit to carry a rifle or shotgun concealed.

Could it be that Florida does not require a permit to carry a long gun concealed because carrying one in such a fashion is not practical, both because of the awkwardness of concealing such a weapon and because of trying to do so in such a hot and humid climate?

Or might it be that Florida is just like the rest of the country when it comes to honoring the Second Amendment. After all, no state requires a permit to carry a long gun, although New York City requires a permit for one and Massachusetts and New Jersey require their respective owners’ permits.

You find that Florida is just like the vast majority of the country on gun registration too. While CNN could not believe that Florida does not require residents to register guns, even a cursory at the NRA-ILA’s guide to State Gun Laws shows that only two states, California and Hawaii, require residents to register all their guns. Registration of “assault weapons” is required in Connecticut and registration of handguns in Maryland, Michigan, and New York.

Apart from that handful of states, firearm registration is non-existent in the U.S.

CNN was also puzzled to learn that an individual does not have to get a state license to sell firearms. This is most likely because the background check conducted at a retail gun sale is handled by the FBI, so it’s a federal matter. Therefore, individuals wanting a license to sell guns get that license from the federal government.

CNN made sure to note that Florida “does not regulate assault weapons” either. Again, only a handful of states do. Yet some of those states, California and New York, have continued to witness heinous attacks by criminals who ignore the regulations.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.