Rep. Christine Hunchofsky, D-Parkland, said her bill (HB 63) is intended to close a “perceived loophole” created by the 1st District Court of Appeal’s ruling in a case known as McDaniels v. State of Florida. A three-judge panel of the Tallahassee-based court found that the state’s open-carry ban was incompatible with the nation’s “historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
The Sept. 10 ruling overturned a 1987 law that made it a misdemeanor to visibly display guns. Part of the fallout from the ruling involves a longstanding law allowing concealed-weapons licenses. That law included prohibitions on carrying handguns into certain places but does not address long guns, such as rifles.
In an interview with The News Service of Florida, Hunchofsky said she filed the bill for the 2026 legislative session to clear up uncertainty about the ruling.
“Right now, everybody’s scrambling. We have differing opinions and we just want to bring some clarity to this, and especially given the time we’re in, we need to have this clarity,” said Hunchofsky, who is slated to take over as House minority leader after the 2026 elections.
Without a legislative fix, the ruling might allow people to openly carry rifles, shotguns and other long guns into places that are off-limits to handguns, including courthouses, legislative meetings, school board meetings, jails, police stations and bars. Hunchofsky said that lawmakers never intended to allow guns to be brought into such spaces.
House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, and Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, have not indicated whether they intend to address the issue during the session that begins Jan. 13.
The interpretation of the ruling’s impact has sparked debate among law-enforcement officials, gun-rights advocates and local government officials.
Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz issued a memo last week in response to “questions within the judicial branch” about the ruling’s effect on courthouse security.
The appellate court’s “Second Amendment analysis does not address the regulation of firearms” in Florida courthouses, the Sept. 25 memo to chief judges throughout the state said.
“Our (Supreme) Court believes that chief judges continue to have the authority to prohibit weapons (including firearms) in courthouses and courtrooms,” Muñiz wrote.
