When a person thinks about guns, two different perspectives tend to come to mind. Vision A shows a world where guns are a danger to everyone and everything, while vision B shows guns as a way to protect and keep people safe. To reach a medium, current gun laws center around meeting certain requirements, like a safety course and permit. However, starting July 1, these rules are set to change in Florida. 

On April 3, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 543, also known as the constitutional carry right. Constitutional carry will allow for any Florida resident to carry a concealed weapon in public.

Upon first glance, the bill is likely to send anyone into a frenzy. Considering the 12,501 deaths due to gun violence in 2023 alone, how is it smart to allow more people to walk around with weapons?

By establishing this law, Florida does run the risk of increased violence, but is this different from what happens now? Anyone now can get a gun and use it for the wrong reasons, and the news is filled with these stories every day. 

Focusing on HB 543 is not how we fix the issues we already have, and spending time fighting this law only focuses on a small match in a giant bonfire. Guns as a whole are the real issue here. 

Even now with the permit law, if someone wants to get and use a gun for a crime there is nothing really stopping them. The Stoneman Douglas shooter legally had a gun. The Oxford High School shooter did not legally have a gun. It did not matter. It is simple to get guns. 

HB 543 is not going to change the dangers that already exist when it is not the real issue we are facing. It is like driving–there are already laws saying do not speed and do not drive without your drivers license, but people still do it. Changing a law or getting rid of one can raise some issues, but it never actually changes the problem we should be focusing on. 

Although it is a sad reality, having a safety course does not create a dramatic change because it is not the government issued course that makes someone safe or not. Just because a gun owner takes a course on how to handle a weapon does not mean they will end up listening to what they learned or that accidents will not happen. It is not a course that directly increases or decreases gun violence, but the person operating the gun.

Even now with HB 543 being put in effect July 1, getting a permit to have a concealed weapon has been growing almost as fast as these laws are put in place. According to the Crime Prevention Research Center, there are already 16.5 million people who have concealed carry permits, and that number is steadily rising by 2.3%. 

Following recent shootings like The Covenant School shooting, Louisville bank shooting, and Feb. Orlando shooting, it is not a piece of government paper saying ‘I can carry this weapon’ that will have stopped it. Gun violence has been growing, but having a permit or not is not how we end the issues. To fix the problem, all parties in Florida and other states have to work together and figure out how to deal with it in different ways. 

Creating HB 543 does not help end the violence, but if we want to actually create a change, it starts with reevaluating the role of guns and if we even need them. The problem with gun violence has never stemmed from people having a permit or not, the problem is guns themselves.

It is only day 114 in 2023. Yet the number of mass shootings this year has already reached 168. Amongst the rise of gun violence, people would expect a tighter reform of gun use and possession; instead, the opposite is occurring. Effective July 1, House Bill 543 will make Florida the 26th state to allow permitless concealed carry. Although the law will maintain permits and background checks to buy a gun, people will no longer be required to have training nor a permit to carry it. 

With similar laws implemented all over the nation, gun violence has seen an increase of 13 to 15 percent in states with concealed carry laws. The reason could very easily be the loophole of firearm transactions. Although the federal law requires sellers to perform background checks, unlicensed and online sellers typically do not perform this process. 80% of all firearms acquired for criminal purposes are from unlicensed sellers.

In these cases concealed carry permits could have provided a legitimate background check that would have confiscated guns from the wrong people—background checks that could have reduced armed homicide by 35%. But further prevention from gun related crimes is not available with the new law that facilitates this violence.

Even if guns are bought legally, deadly consequences remain. Previously, permit owners were required to take a training course that taught gun usage, maintenance and storage. After the implementation of HB 543, this will no longer be the case. Of course, Gov. Ron DeSantis ignores the fact that untrained civilians end up injuring themselves or others due to firing too quickly when trying to avoid danger.

The effects are not limited to the violence. Tourists will be rightfully scared to come to a state with more guns, and especially international tourists who will look at our shooting numbers and decide to go elsewhere. With Florida earning $51 billion from tourism annually, this could prove detrimental. Although the law does implement restrictions of places where conceal carry is not permitted, most of these places do not include restaurants, malls or even tourist spots like beaches. Just imagine trying to go back-to-school shopping at the mall and suddenly hearing gunshots. Or how about strolling on the beach for a walk and wondering if the family next to you is packing a gun in their lunch cooler. With concealed carry law, expect these situations to become more common.

The statistics and countless deaths speak for themselves: we cannot afford loosening gun restrictions. Because the reality is that using guns as a way to cater toward voters may leave them satisfied until the death count starts to rise. HB 543 will simply make a mass shooting headline in the news no longer seem like a big deal which should not, in any circumstance, be the case.