White House calls DeSantis’s signing of concealed carry law ‘shameful’

The White House on Monday condemned Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for signing into law a bill that allows residents to carry concealed guns without a permit days after three children were killed at a Nashville, Tenn., grade school.

“It is shameful that so soon after another tragic school shooting, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a permitless concealed carry bill behind closed doors, which eliminates the need to get a license to carry a concealed weapon,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

“This is the opposite of commonsense gun safety,” Jean-Pierre added. “The people of Florida —who have paid a steep price for state and Congressional inaction on guns from Parkland to Pulse Nightclub to Pine Hills — deserve better.”

DeSantis signed the bill during a private ceremony in his office, later issuing a news release about the event. The law will allow anyone who can legally own a gun in Florida to carry it without a permit, and training and a background check will not be required to carry a gun in public. The law goes into effect July 1.

The governor’s decision to sign the law comes less than one week after a shooter killed three 9-year-olds and three teachers at a Nashville school, renewing debate over the country’s gun laws.

President Biden has pleaded with Congress to pass an assault weapons ban to get high capacity guns off the streets. The White House has pointed to executive actions Biden has taken to crack down on ghost guns and gun trafficking, but the president acknowledged last week he could only do so much alone.

“The Congress has to act. The majority of the American people think having assault weapons is bizarre, it’s a crazy idea. They’re against that,” Biden said last week. “I can’t do anything except plead with Congress to act reasonably.”