Gun policy emerges as early flashpoint in Florida governor’s race

Byron Donalds says the choice between himself and David Jolly for Florida governor “could not be clearer” — and that’s certainly the case when it comes to their positions on regulation of guns and those who use them.

Jolly is running on a gun-safety platform that includes four tenets: He wants to ban sale of assault weapons, require universal and comprehensive background checks on gun purchases, explore licensing for firearm ownership, and preserve and expand the “red flag” laws passed following the 2018 school shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

Those red-flag laws are called risk protection orders (RPO). In Florida, only law enforcement officers or agencies can file an RPO petition in civil court alleging someone poses a significant danger of causing personal injury to himself or herself or others by having a firearm or ammunition in their custody.

That law was part of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public High School Safety Act, passed by the Florida Legislature and signed into law by then-Republican Gov. Rick Scott less than a month after the Parkland tragedy.

Donalds says he is considering repealing that and other provisions of the law if elected in November.

The GOP gubernatorial candidate has proudly told audiences for more than a year that he was one of the minority of Republicans in the Florida House who opposed the school safety law. The measure includes a multitude of provisions:

• It raised the minimum age to buy a rifle or long from 18 to 21.
• Banned bump stocks.
• Required a three-day waiting period for gun purchases.
• Created those risk-protection orders.

When it comes to restricting purchase of long guns to those 21 and over, Donalds says, “Its gotta go.”

“We’re going to remove that provision,” he told the Phoenix Tuesday night.

Florida Senate as bulwark on 2018 law 

However, the governor of Florida can’t make that change on his or her own. Ron DeSantis has also been on the record supporting repeal of the measure, and the Florida House has passed legislation that would do just that for four straight years.

But it failed to become law the last four years because the past two Senate presidents, Ben Albritton and, before him, Kathleen Passidomo — opposed the legislation, and it has died every year in that chamber.

The incoming Senate president is Manatee County Republican Jim Boyd. He did not respond to a request for comment.

“The Parkland gun safety law was bipartisan, it’s supported by law enforcement, and it should stay in place,” Jolly told the Phoenix.

Regarding repealing the red-flag law, Donalds said Tuesday night, “We want to make sure without a shadow of doubt that constitutional rights are protected. So, that’s what we’re going to aim for.”

In a video posted by earlier this month by Luis Valdes, Florida state director for Gun Owners of America, Donalds vowed, “We’re going to get those provisions undone in Florida.”

While Florida Republicans have passed legislation in the House to repeal the age limit on purchasing a long gun, this past session was the first time a lawmaker filed legislation attempting to revoke the red-flag law. It never received a hearing.

Law enforcement’s opinion

A major factor in that has been opposition by law enforcement.

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri chaired the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, which ended its work last month. He supports Donalds and introduced him during a campaign event in St. Petersburg Tuesday night. He declined to respond to a request for comment on the GOP candidate’s remarks about the Parkland law.

Opposition by law enforcement isn’t bulletproof.

For years, the Florida Sheriffs Association fought against allowing the open carrying of firearms, and that opposition compelled previous Florida Republican leaders to oppose such as measure. Albritton told reporters shortly after taking office as Senate president in December 2024 that he had supported law enforcement his entire life and “I stand with them today in opposition” to open carry.

That opposition began to matter less after a three-judge panel of the Florida 1st District Court of Appeal ruled that the state’s ban on open carry was unconstitutional — a decision Donalds celebrates.

“We now are essentially an open carry state because of the ruling,” Donalds says.

Yet the Florida Legislature never codified open carry into legislation during its 2026 regular session.

Broward County Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, the incoming Democratic leader in the Florida House, filed a measure earlier this year to close what she described as a legal loophole by clarifying that all firearms remain prohibited in sensitive government and community spaces.

“I actually privately received a lot of support from the other side of the aisle and from law enforcement,” she said of her proposal, which wasn’t heard in any committee.

Uthmeier has already indicated he wouldn’t defend Florida’s law banning individuals under 21 from purchasing a long gun. Hunschofsky considers that unfortunate.

“Last time I checked, the role of the attorney general was to defend the laws of the state of Florida,” she said. “It wasn’t his job to decide which laws he felt were worth defending and which weren’t.”

Uthmeier has intervened in several other cases involving use of firearms during his short tenure as attorney general, unilaterally declaring certain state gun laws unconstitutional.