Sheriff Updates Statements Following Memo from State Attorney

Earlier today, GnvInfo republished a press release from Alachua County Sheriff Chad Scott regarding the Florida 1st District Court of Appeals' ruling that openly carrying a firearm is legally acceptable under the U.S. constitution.

GnvInfo republished a version of the press release that the Sheriff posted on Instagram, which said the ruling is not in effect, and he’d still enforce the open-carry ban. The post was deleted and replaced by a memorandum from State Attorney Brian Kramer, stating he would not prosecute open carry bans following the ruling.

"I understand that the decision… like all decision out of the district courts of appeal, is not final until the time for rehearing expires," writes Kramer. "However, I believe that the Attorney General of the State of Florida is unlikely to appeal this decision. Therefore, the unconstitutionality of this statute will not change. Knowing this, I cannot in good faith prosecute this crime, both pending cases and future arrests. Because of the McDaniels decision, open carry alone cannot be the basis for reasonable suspicion for a stop or probable cause for a search or an arrest."

Although the Instagram version of the press release was deleted, the Sheriff also reposted the press release on Facebook.

The Facebook press release remains online, but no longer includes the statement, "Our deputies will continue to enforce the law as it currently stands," on openly carrying firearms.

The Sheriff's Facebook press release now includes a new paragraph, stating:

"𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬.𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐟’𝐬 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬."

Original Press Release:

Press Release: Sheriff Gives Statement on Open Carry Court Opinion

Press release from Alachua County Sheriff Chad Scott: On September 10th, a court opinion was issued regarding the open carrying of firearms in Florida. I want to emphasize that this opinion is not final until the disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure 9.

Gainesville Public Information ServicesStaff Report

Screenshot of caption from now-deleted Instagram post on the Sheriff's Office account: