A college libertarian group is suing a Democratic Florida state official, claiming she’s depriving residents of their Second Amendment rights.
On Friday, Young Americans for Liberty, a nonprofit student activist organization, filed a lawsuit against Nikki Fried, Florida’s commissioner of agriculture and consumer services, for temporarily disabling an online portal to apply for a concealed weapons license.
“Nikki Fried thinks that your right to self-defense is negotiable. She’s wrong,” said Cliff Maloney, the organization’s president, to Florida Politics. “This is a blatant disregard for the rule of law, and I will not idly sit by while Nikki Fried uses this crisis to enact her gun-grabbing agenda. I encourage all Americans to join this fight for our rights. We either believe in liberty in times of crisis, or we do not believe in liberty at all.”
On March 31, Fried announced the measure with a host of other changes in state guidelines, most of which were aimed toward providing relief for business owners and workers.
“During this pandemic, we are taking every step necessary to protect Floridians,” Fried said at the time. “This includes waiving fees for businesses and license applicants, extending the expiration on concealed weapons and security guard licenses by 30 days, providing training flexibility for workers, and helping move gasoline to consumers more efficiently. These are common-sense actions that will help our state continue to thrive in these challenging times.”
The lawsuit takes issue with Fried “selectively” extending the closure of this application portal while maintaining applications for other licenses through the department. However, Fried’s office has taken issue with the characterization of the lawsuit, asserting that the state is processing tens of thousands of applications for concealed weapons licenses.
“Commissioner Fried has not restricted processing of concealed weapons license applications; on the contrary, our department has processed more than 54,000 concealed weapons license applications since March 1, with an average review time of just one to two days,” Fried’s Communications Director, Franco Ripple, told Florida Politics. “Despite misinformation from special interest groups, we are continuing to process both new applications and renewals timely, and Commissioner Fried has also issued emergency orders extending expiring licenses by 90 days.”
