When the Illegal Transportation Act takes effect, Florida police departments will face different challenges, especially in South Florida where the population is growing.
The change comes into effect on July 1, but the police are already preparing. And they hope city and county residents will too.
With this Governor’s signature, carrying firearms without a license is the law in Florida. The Miami-Dade Police Director acknowledges his concern.
Alfredo Ramírez, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, said, “It’s going to be more difficult for our officers and I’m worried, but I know we’ll handle this and we’ll be fine.”
While the Miami police chief points to specific concerns.
Miami Police Chief Manny Morales says “the number one cause of where illegal guns get into the hands of criminals is when they’re stolen from the cars of people who carry guns legally.” .
He points out that even with the new law, there are certain places you are not allowed to enter with a concealed weapon.
Manny Morales, Miami Police Chief, says, “Whether it’s a school or a bank or a government building, they’re going to try to secure the guns in their cars.
This is why the police ask you to keep the weapon in a safe out of sight.
Additionally, they point out that the new law requires the person carrying a gun to have some form of legal identification, be over the age of 18 and have no criminal record, what has changed is does not have the additional permit granted by the Department of Agriculture and includes a training session. The police prefecture recalls that training is everyone’s responsibility.
Miami-Dade Police Superintendent Alfredo Ramírez said, “We’re not politicians, but we’re here to obey the law, we’re going to do training, and we’re going to communicate with the community so they know ‘having a gun is a responsibility’.
“The reasonable thing to do is to get some kind of training, to be comfortable, to know what you are doing, to be familiar with the weapon and the equipment you are using. You don’t want to be in a situation, God forbid, where you have to use a weapon and you don’t know what you’re doing, and that’s the number of tragedies we see happening,” Morales said.
The bill, among other measures, requires all Florida police departments to update their training to respond to an active shooter. This needs to be completed.