Presuming some provisions are not mis-used to Abolish the 4th Amendment, or to Abolish Private Trade; all this bill does is remove the 'Concealed' requirement from the License.
Media and gun-haters are talking about it as if no more NICS will exist, no more Licensing will exist, etc. They're just plain lying to stir up fear.
...and even if their claims were true, I still don't see what the problem would be. NICS and Licensing do not prevent crimes. All those two things do are create a new group of victim-less crimes, and easy targets for real criminals....
As it stands in Florida, Guns rarely prevent crime. Why? Out of Sight, Out of Mind. A Licensed Gun Carrier has to wait until violent acts are already in progress to draw and probably then have to kill someone. If we could carry our guns openly, many of these scenarios would be prevented merely by the Bad Guys seeing a gun. No need to pull the gun out, no need to point it at anyone, no need to pull the trigger. Open Carry is a measure to DECREASE shootings, and no rational person can argue that it could have any other effect.
Over 40 other States have already made this move in one form or another. It is ironic that, Florida, the 1st State in the entire Country to institute Concealed Carry Permits, is one of the last to figure out what a bad idea requiring Concealment was/is... I, personally used to have such a permit. Having been in 4 scenarios that required the use of my firearm, it is painfully obvious to me how none of them would have happened if my gun were visible. Not to mention, what a pain it is to draw from cover. Or how hard it is to conceal in July! It's almost useless.
The only Concealed Permit Holders who can praise the notion of concealment, are those who still get a feel-good sensation of having a gun against their skin. I admit, I used to be one of them. When placed in a situation where that gun is needed, it's damn near useless. Until you find yourself in that position, and realize it the hard way.... Why should we have to learn that lesson the hard way, at the mercy of a violent criminal?
Roughly 1 out of 100 people in Florida is already carrying a gun. If the Bad Guys SAW these guns, think how dramatically crime would be decreased.
It's Common-Sense.
We've tried banning guns already. Look at places that do. NYC, Boston, Chicago, LA.... Banning guns has had the OPPOSITE effect from what it's proponents advertise. Disarming good people only makes them easy targets for those who don't obey that law.
Let us apply Logic and Science instead of rhetoric and fear-mongering.
Besides, it helps gun-haters. They hate Gun Owners so much, but they have no idea that every time they walk into a Crowded Shopping Center, SuperStore, Restaurant, etc... Who's carrying? Do you count 300 people in there? That means 3 of them have a gun, most likely. It will give Gun Haters, and Gun Owner Haters, an easy way to know whom they should visit their prejudice upon. They'll actually be able to see us and identify us. By their own logic, this is a good thing. As it stands, they have no idea if the person standing behind them in line at the Super Market has a gun or not. If this law passes, they'll be able to make a spectacle of themselves with their hateful tirades, instead of trying to feign legitimacy by writing it in a newspaper.