Florida lawmaker files bill requiring mental evaluation for concealed carry permits

Guns and mental health are two hot topics that get combined lately. And a Florida lawmaker is proposing a new law that would require applicants of concealed carry permits to undergo a mental evaluation.

On Thursday, State Rep. Al Jacquet (FL-D) filed a bill for “Concealed Weapons or Concealed Firearms Licensing” (HB 117), requiring an applicant to have undergone a mental health evaluation and determined to be fit to acquire the license.

At a local gun range, we spoke to gun owners, who shared their thoughts about the proposed legislation.

“What they’re doing is they’re putting an impediment there,” Chad Hendrix said. “And they’re putting a barrier there, and whose to say you have a mental health issue? Who’s to make that determination.”

We also spoke to Dr. Abbe Finn, the director of the Clinical Mental Health program at FGCU, who said deciding how the evaluations would be conducted prove difficult; however, she said some form of psychological evaluation is necessary to get a concealed carry permit.

“It would be a very difficult assessment to make,” Finn said. “We do not have one single assessment.”