While speaking in Iowa over the weekend, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis emphasized a dramatic decline in the murder rate in Miami, attributing it to recent improvements in the state’s firearms restrictions.
DeSantis stressed the importance of these legislative changes. “Since we’ve enacted that, you’ve had a big drop in murders in Miami, they just reported that’s what’s happened,” he said, referring to the favorable effects following the passage of HB 543 in 2023.
HB 543, sometimes known as the permitless carry legislation, has sparked great debate. Governor DeSantis refers to this statute as “constitutional carry,” a term he has consistently employed, despite generating some consternation among firearms enthusiasts. His pledge to make permitless carry a legal reality has been years in the making.
However, local government officials’ responses provide a different picture. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez hailed the substantial decrease in homicides, adding that only 31 homicides occurred in Miami in 2023. This figure may be the lowest in the city’s history. Mayor Suarez, however, attributed this decline not to the new state law, but to the efficacy of “law enforcement.”
The impact of gun prohibitions on crime rates is a contested and dynamic issue, with various stakeholders attributing success to different sources. In this ongoing argument, the case of Miami’s dropping murder rate serves as a focus point.