Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody declined to represent a state prosecutor and county sheriff being sued by a gun rights group over the state’s ban on open-carrying firearms.
Gun Owners of America and a Palm Beach County gun owner filed the federal lawsuit in August against St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson and State Attorney Thomas Bakkedahl on the basis that the state’s ban on open carry infringed upon Florida’s Second and 14th Amendment rights.
It is under Moody’s purview to defend the constitutionality of Florida’s laws, and she has previously defended laws putting restrictions on guns, such as raising the legal age to purchase a rifle from 18 to 21. Her defense of this law came in spite of her campaign promise to oppose raising the age restrictions for gun purchases.
Moody has been a fierce critic of politicians such as Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) for failing to enforce and defend the laws on the books.
“Laws are nothing if they are not enforced,” Moody said at a press conference in August.