Nondangerous Felons Retain Gun Rights in Florida
Christopher Morgan was convicted in Pennsylvania in 2007 after he was caught carrying a firearm without a state license. Fifteen years later, he was stopped by a Florida officer, whom he told of a pistol in the center console of his car. Morgan was charged in Florida with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He has no other criminal history.
Before his trial in Florida, Morgan’s defense team made a motion that the state firearm law, 790.23, is “unconstitutional both facially and as applied to him.” However, the trial court denied his motion. Morgan then pleaded no contest to the felon in possession Florida charges but appealed his conviction. He was sentenced to two days in jail and court costs.
Last week, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier issued a response to Morgan’s appeal, which said that his conviction for possessing a firearm by a felon violates the Second Amendment.
AG Uthmeier actually agreed with Morgan’s legal team.
“On studied reflection, the Attorney General has concluded that the conviction does indeed infringe Morgan’s right, as a nondangerous felon, to keep and bear arms,” Uthmeier wrote. “The state must therefore confess error and urge this Court to reverse.”
In the court document, Uthmeier spells out that he is Florida’s “Chief Legal Officer,” and that he swore an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution.
“It is thus the Attorney General’s duty to admit when he believes the State has obtained a conviction in violation of the Constitution,” he wrote.
If the court permits him to file a brief for this case, Uthmeier’s team wrote, he will “discuss the lack of historical evidence supporting the dispossession of all felons as distinct from the strong historical evidence supporting the dispossession of dangerous felons.”
Solid Second Amendment history
This is not the first pro-gun move Florida’s Attorney General has made. In fact, the list is getting long.
Uthmeier recently intervened in a teen’s criminal case by asking a state appeals court to uphold the defendant’s right to carry—a move that even the anti-gun media admitted was a victory for Floridians’ gun rights. The issue involved a 1987 state law, which bars 18, 19 and 20-year-olds from carrying concealed firearms.
In September of last year, Uthmeier ended a Florida state law that criminalized open carry. He did it with a single post on X.
Once Florida’s First District Court of Appeals ruled the state’s open carry ban was unconstitutional in McDaniels v. State of Florida, Uthmeier posted an important announcement.
“I’m issuing guidance to Florida’s prosecutors and law enforcement in light of the 1st DCA’s decision in McDaniels v. State,” Uthmeier posted on X. “Because no other appellate court has considered the constitutionality of Florida’s open carry ban since the SCOTUS decision in Bruen, the 1st DCA’s decision is binding on all Florida’s trial courts. Meaning that as of last week, open carry is the law of the state.”
Uthmeier first joined Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as deputy general counsel in 2019. Within a year he became general counsel. One year later, DeSantis appointed him chief of staff. Last year, when DeSantis appointed Attorney General Ashely Moody to replace Senator Marco Rubio, he appointed Uthmeier to replace Moody as the state’s 30th Attorney General.
Reaction
Eric Friday is general counsel for Florida Carry, Inc. He has been a pro-gun attorney in Florida for more than 20 years.
“James Uthmeier is the most intellectually honest Attorney General we’ve ever had in Florida, while I have practiced law in the state,” Friday said Thursday morning. “The real question going forward will be a process for people who want a determination of whether their prior conviction is still problematic.”
Florida’s clemency process, Friday said, has been broken for years. There are long delays after applications are submitted. Many states have a judicial restoration process, but Florida does not.
“That is the only path we have in Florida currently to restore felons in their right to bear arms,” he said. “New York has a better restoration process for felons to be able to bear arms than Florida.”
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About Lee Williams
Lee Williams, who is also known as “The Gun Writer,” is the chief editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Until recently, he was also an editor for a daily newspaper in Florida. Before becoming an editor, Lee was an investigative reporter at newspapers in three states and a U.S. Territory. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a police officer. Before becoming a cop, Lee served in the Army. He’s earned more than a dozen national journalism awards as a reporter, and three medals of valor as a cop. Lee is an avid tactical shooter.
