Gov. DeSantis plans to pass constitutional carry law

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - In a news conference Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he still plans to pass a constitutional carry, or permit-less carry law.

"The legislature will get it done," DeSantis said. "I can’t tell you if it’s going to be next week, six months, but I can tell you that before I am done as governor we will have a signature on that bill."

Versions of the law have been passed in several other states and allow people to carry pistols without getting a permit.

"I do like the idea that people have the right to carry, and I believe it is a constitutional right, but there’s a lot of questions to be answered," said Scott Buckwald, one of the owners of Buck's Gun Rack in Daytona Beach.

Buckwald told FOX 35 he thinks passing that kind of legislation would create more interest in buying guns, but he hasn't made up his mind on whether it's a good idea yet.

Other groups are highly critical.

"We see it as absolutely the opposite of what needs to be happening," said Beth Dumond from the Florida chapter of Moms Demand Action. "We know that obviously there is a crisis of gun violence in Florida, and the last thing we need to do is make it easier for people to carry guns in public without any sort of background check instead of putting policies in place that might reduce gun violence."

Gov. DeSantis sees it as an important step.

"We used to be a leader on Second Amendment," DeSantis said "There’s like 25 states that have already done it and I think if you look now, you have a situation where the official in charge of these permits doesn’t support Second Amendment rights."

He's referring to Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried.

Fried, who's running for governor as a Democrat, responded by saying she does support gun rights but added that she pushed for ensuring background checks for all concealed weapons permits.

A constitutional carry bill was introduced in the last legislative session, but it was never heard.