The governor of Florida enacted the law to carry weapons without a license

The governor of Florida, Republican Ron DeSantis, signed a state law on Monday that allows concealed carry of firearms without the need for a license, a background check process or any training, in another controversial measure that the US government described as “shameful”.

The decision comes a few days after a shooting massacre of six people committed by a young woman at a school in Nashville, in the southern state of Tennessee, which reopened the debate on the indiscriminate and almost out-of-control use of weapons in the United States. , where mass shootings in public places are commonplace. The only requirement to carry weapons with you is to be in possession of a valid identity card.

The regulation that DeSantis signed was approved last week by the Florida Senate and will take effect on July 1.said the governor, who according to the media is preparing to announce his candidacy for president for his party for the 2024 elections.

However, the White House quickly came out to repudiate the measure, which it labeled “shameful”, recalling deadly mass shootings that occurred in Florida.

“It’s a shame that so soon after another tragic school shooting, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a law allowing concealed carry without a license”protested government spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.

“It’s the opposite of common sense about gun safety. The people of Florida deserve better and have already paid a heavy price for state and congressional inaction”he added, reported the Europa Press news agency.

The most tragic and high-profile mass shooting in recent years in Florida occurred on February 14, 2018, when 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz killed 14 students ages 14-18 and three teachers with a semi-automatic rifle in his former Parkland City School, near Miami.

named “Massacre of San Valentin” for having been perpetrated on Valentine’s Day, its author, who is serving jail time, was described as “a lonely, problematic boy and crazy about weapons”.

However, the Republican lawmaker behind the bill said it was “a step forward.”

“This rule is a big step forward, a big step so that the average law-abiding citizen doesn’t have to jump through hoops of getting a government license to carry their gun,” said state legislator Chuck Brannan.

Last week Audrey Hale, a trans woman, killed three nine-year-old children and three teachers at a Nashville elementary school, where she had attended a few years before, after which she was shot dead by police.

The event emotionally impacted President Joe Biden, who immediately again asked Congress to enact a law to curb the indiscriminate use of weapons.

If DeSantis, an ultra-conservative politician, were to compete for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination for the 2024 elections, he would have former President Donald Trump, of similar ideology, as an internal rival.

Biden has yet to announce that he will run again, but the media says he will at any moment.