Last week we reported that Florida’s largest grocery store chain is apparently allowing the open carry of firearms, just like it allows lawful concealed carry. Publix hasn’t made any official statement, but multiple stores confirmed to the South Florida Sun Sentinel that the chain hasn’t forbidden the practice, which is now allowed by law after a state appellate court ruled the open carry ban was a violation of the Second Amendment.
While open carry is already allowed in the vast majority of states, the gun control group Giffords is pretending that Publix’s decision is a “massive threat to public safety.” In a post on X, Giffords bemoaned the grocery behemoth’s decision, proclaiming “We should all be able to go on a grocery run without worrying about if we’ll make it home, but now anyone can openly carry a gun in Florida’s largest grocery store chain without a background check or training.”
Now, there have been zero reports of any accidental or negligent discharge involving an open-carrying gun owner anywhere in the state since the ban was rescinded, but that’s not stopping Giffords from clutching its collective pearls.
Despite their attempts at fearmongering, my guess is most Floridians a) don’t care about Pulblix’s policy and b) won’t run into anyone openly carrying, whether at a grocery store or any other publicly accessible place.
I think I’ve seen someone openly carrying at my local grocery store twice in the nearly 13 years I’ve lived in rural Virginia, and I reside in a county with lots of gun owners. Granted, Food Lion issued a statement back in 2019 that it would prefer for customers to voluntarily refrain from bringing firearms and other weapons into our stores.” but my local store has no signage up that actually prohibits either form of carry.
While Virginia requires a license to carry concealed, any lawful gun owner can openly carry without a government-issued permission slip. That’s been the law for decades, and it hasn’t been an issue. Even the last time Democrats had a trifecta in state government they didn’t try to repeal or amend the open carry statute (though that might change if they take complete control of state government in next month’s elections).
I suspect that once the newness over the demise of Florida’s open carry ban subsides, it will be a non-issue there as well. But in the meantime, expect plenty of local media outlets to join Giffords in condemning Publix for abiding by state law. The South Florida Sun Sentinel editorial board has already called on the store to ban all gun from its property, and they won’t be the last.
Publix surely has the legal right to decide whether to allow guns on its premises. But similarly, nobody is required to shop there, either. We are the “free state of Florida,” after all, right?
Publix’s choice sets a poor example for other businesses. It won’t comfort Floridians already nervous because of the gun violence in a state where the gun lobby has too much influence.
According to the Florida Department of Health’s Division of Public Health Statistics and Performance Management, violent crime in the state has plunged from 270.4 per 100,000 people in 2004 to 150.7 in 2023. Florida is a case study in protecting the Second Amendment while pursuing violent offenders with vigor, and if a near 50% decrease in violent crime over the past two decades is what happens when the “gun lobby has too much influence,” then I’d say more states need to follow Florida’s lead.
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