Guns at the public library? Miami-Dade adjusts to Florida’s open-carry era
Days after a Florida appeals court legalized the open carry of firearms statewide, a library manager in Miami Beach realized that would probably mean having to welcome visibly armed visitors to libraries.
“Here is my understanding of the law as it currently stands in light of the ruling. Neither Miami-Dade County nor [its library system] may prohibit open or concealed carry of firearms on library property,” Bryant Capley wrote in a Sept. 15 email seeking confirmation that open-carry rights would also apply to public libraries.
That email triggered a response from county attorneys laying out the limited exceptions to Florida’s new open-carry rules as one of the state’s largest local governments rushed to figure out where visible guns would be allowed.
The email was one of several obtained by the Miami Herald through a records request that show how county administrators began gaming out how a visibly-armed civilian might soon be part of day-to-day life at government buildings.
The change started with a Sept. 10 ruling by the First District Court of Appeal striking down a statewide ban on the open carry of firearms and declaring that Floridians have a constitutional right to bear arms in public. Days later, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said it was settled law statewide.
Armed civilians aren’t newly allowed in county facilities. Florida law already allowed people to carry concealed weapons in most public places. But now, county administrators are contemplating the impact of civilian guns being visible.
In a Sept. 12 email with an “Open Carry of Firearms” subject line, Sharif Masri, a lawyer and security administrator for Miami-Dade, noted to a superior that current security protocols call for police to stop someone from entering a county building with a visible firearm — but now those safeguards were in doubt. He attached an article about the ruling by the First District Court of Appeals.
“This will likely create anxiety and fear for our employees, contractors and visitors who may see openly carried firearms,” Masri wrote.
While owners of private buildings can bar the open-carry of firearms, state rules don’t give the same leeway to local governments. But there are some exceptions.
READ MORE: Publix allows open carry, but what about Miami-area Winn-Dixie, malls, theaters?
A mix of state and federal rules and court decrees still don’t allow firearms during legislative meetings or in courthouses, airports, restricted areas of seaports, jails or buildings being used as a voting site.
Federal laws also prohibit the carrying of firearms within school zones. Miami-Dade’s seat of government, the Stephen P. Clark Center, sits within 1,000 feet of a public school, which county administrators say is enough under federal law to restrict gun possession inside .
For county police, the new legal framework means accepting civilian firearms as a daily part of life and not a source of alarm.
“Individuals may now openly carry firearms in public,” Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz said in a Sept. 30 memo to staff. “There is currently no distinction between handguns and long guns (rifles, shotguns, etc.) in the law, meaning that both may be openly carried.”
The memo stated that officer safety needs to remain the top priority and said it’s fine for deputies during an interaction with an armed person to tell them to keep their hands visible and away from a firearm.
To defuse someone with a gun from being combative or on edge, the memo suggested a deputy acknowledge that open-carry is now legal.
“It may be advisable to acknowledge the law change in Florida that allows an individual to openly carry a firearm,” the memo reads.
It also offered guidance on a few hypothetical scenarios.
One involved a restaurant manager asking a patron to not enter with a pistol strapped to a holster. That person could be arrested for trespassing for refusing to leave.
Another involved a traffic stop with a firearm in the passenger seat. Unless the officer discovers the driver is a felon, there is no legal issue with the firearm. But, the memo says, the officer is free to ask the driver to step outside until the traffic stop is complete.
“Be sure not to escalate the encounter solely because of the firearm,” the memo reads.
There was similar guidance for county paramedics and firefighters in a draft memo circulated to county lawyers in late September.
“Unless an individual presents an immediate threat to personnel, patients or the public,” the draft memo said, “the presence of an openly carried firearm, in and of itself, should not alter the provision of care or professional conduct.”
For county librarians, accepting the sight of a firearm will also be part of standard protocols in Miami-Dade. While a library close to a school or sharing building space with a courthouse could remain gun-free, the bulk of county libraries are now forced to welcome gun holders.
“We are not aware of any specific exemption from open carry in public libraries other than for libraries that may fall under statutory exception,” Ray Baker, director of the Miami-Dade’s library system, told the Herald.
