Criminal Defense
Since 1993
Since 1993
Carrying a Concealed Firearm
Carrying a concealed firearm here in Florida is a serious felony, it tends a get a little more jail or prison than it deserves. I know that’s why you’re here and I know that’s why you’re going to get in touch with a local criminal defense attorney.
Now, let me tell you, carrying a concealed firearm doesn’t mean that you actually carried it. That’s the boggling thing about this case, is that 99.427% of these cases happen inside of a car, where nobody was carrying anything. The weapon is somewhere concealed within the passenger compartment.
The law is a little grey on this area but it basically says, look, if a concealed firearm or weapon is within “ready reach”, then we’re going to pop you for this felony. And its the ready reach that’s the issue. So, we know that if it’s in the trunk, you’re probably, even though its concealed, it’s not within ready reach, it’s not readily accessible so you’re not going to get hit for the charge. But, if it’s within arms reach you might get hit for the charge.
And, I had a case recently where my client’s pulled over for speeding, the cop orders him out of the car. He complies, he opens the door. As soon as he opens the door, the butt of the gun is like in the sill, the little pocket of the driver door. The cop immediately puts handcuffs on him and arrests him. My client is baffled as to why he’s getting arrested and as it turns out of course we get the case dismissed. I wouldn’t be telling you about it if I didn’t get it dismissed. And, the reason is simple: how in the heck do you call something “concealed” if you recognize it the minute the door is open? It’s not concealed.
If something is in plain view, we also see these cases where the gun is like, in the, in between the driver seat and the console. The butt of it is sticking out and the cop asks for the license and registration–“oh my gosh there’s a firearm in there, get your hands up on the steering wheel!” Blah Blah Blah.
Look, it’s not concealed. Right? It is in plain view. Therefore, it’s not a crime. And that is one of many nuances, one of many defenses to charges like this. Because the sentence on these cases are kind of disproportionately harsh to what actually happened, you need to get an attorney involved. You need to take care of this case sooner rather than later. And, get with a good local attorney and you’ll really come out of this just fine. You can avoid all the serious penalties that are available, you can avoid all that and these things can be dismissed and they can go away and you don’t have to be convicted of the felony. All sorts of good things can happen. Get with a local attorney, sooner rather than later and you’ll be just fine. Good Luck