Gun-control advocates blast Florida Attorney General for refusing to defend concealed carry law

Rafael Olmeda, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Feb 9, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier asked an appeals court to uphold a teenager’s right to carry a concealed weapon even after a Broward judge last year declared the ban constitutional, dealing another blow to gun-control advocates who have tried to make it harder to buy and carry firearms in the Sunshine State.

Uthmeier also declined to allow the Broward State Attorney’s Office to defend the law on its own, drawing criticism from some who say the state is abdicating its responsibility to defend the laws passed by the state Legislature.

At issue is a 1987 law that blocks anyone between the ages of 18 and 21 from carrying a concealed firearm. The law has survived multiple reviews and reconsiderations of gun rights and gun control legislation.

Last October Broward Circuit Judge Frank Ledee dismissed the case against a teenager arrested for carrying a concealed handgun, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. “Because the Second Amendment’s plain text applies to the concealed carry of firearms, Florida’s concealed carry ban, as applied to 18-to-20-year olds, is unconstitutional,” the judge wrote in his ruling.

But months earlier, Judge Lorena Mastrarrigo upheld the same law in a similar case. Defense lawyers in that case appealed the ruling, and Uthmeier decided the state was wrong to prosecute the defendant, asking the appeals court to rule for the defendant.

In a written statement issued Monday, Broward State Attorney Harold Pryor said he disagreed with the attorney general but would comply with his decision. “Given the impact of gun crimes in the State of Florida — including the Feb. 14, 2018, mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in our community, which resulted in the tragic murders of 17 children and adults and severe injuries to 17 individuals who survived — we respectfully disagree with the position taken by the Office of the Attorney General,” Pryor said.

Despite the Broward judge’s ruling, the law remains on the books, and Pryor said as such his office will continue enforcing it.

Florida House Rep. Dan Daley criticized the attorney general for putting conservative political preferences above state law. “While our appointed Attorney General might not be aware, he does not have the authority to abandon a state law simply because he disagrees with it,” Daley said. “I am calling on Governor DeSantis to intervene here. The Governor has previously removed duly elected state attorneys for far less — based solely on statements about enforcement discretion.”

DeSantis has shown no indication that he disagrees with Uthmeier or Ledee on gun rights.

“No single official should be able to decide which laws are worth defending, especially when those laws are designed to protect the public from gun violence,” said Fred Guttenberg, a gun-reform advocate and father of Jaime Guttenberg, who was murdered in the Stoneman Douglas shooting

“As a father who lost my daughter, Jaime, to gun violence, I am deeply disturbed by the Attorney General’s refusal to defend Florida’s concealed carry law for 18-to-21-year-olds. Laws like this exist to protect our communities and save lives,” Guttenberg said.

_____