Police Edgy as Florida Ends Gun Controls

Worried police departments issued special warnings to officers Thursday as a new state law allowing most Floridians to carry pistols in public took effect.

“I think it’s a very stupid idea, a very stupid law, and they should reconsider it,” Miami Officer Frank Pichel said before he went on patrol Thursday, the day the law took effect.

The law, passed in April after lobbying by the local chapter of the National Rifle Assn., eased restrictions on gun permits, allowing anyone to carry a concealed weapon unless he or she is a convicted felon or is incapacitated.

In addition, the law dropped an “open carry” provision that had prevented people from wearing guns in plain view. Lawmakers disagree over whether that was an oversight, but there is little sentiment in the Legislature for changing the law.

In Tallahassee, the state printed its first 100 concealed weapons permits Thursday, with authorities predicting that 60,000 residents will eventually be licensed.

In Tampa, at one minute after midnight, police received a call about a possible robbery in progress at a drugstore, police spokesman Steve Cole said. When officers arrived, they found a man with a .45-caliber automatic tucked into his pants.

“He said he’d heard about the new gun law and, since it was after midnight, he decided to take his gun out shopping with him,” Cole said. Officers asked him to put the gun in his car because it was making people nervous, and the man obliged.

Fort Lauderdale police spokesman Ken Collins said no pistols have been spotted in that city, which, prior to the new law, had one of the toughest gun control ordinances in the state.

“Hopefully, the citizens of this city will not take advantage of the loophole,” Collins said.

Most queries to police about the new law were from merchants asking if they may exclude armed customers, Metro-Dade Police spokeswoman Lucy Fitts said.

“We’ve had a lot of calls from jewelry stores who are a little bit antsy about people carrying guns on their premises,” she said. Under the law, if the gun-bearing customer does not leave after being asked to, he can be arrested for trespassing, she said.

Urban police agencies issued special instructions Thursday urging officers to use “a degree of caution” in making what used to be routine traffic stops.

“The officer has to make a shoot-no-shoot decision in a split second,” Metro-Dade police Cmdr. Bill Johnson said. “When everyone turns toward the officer and they all have guns, it becomes a very, very critical situation.”