http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20110722/ARTICLE/110729877/2055/NEWSAnyone strolling through Centennial Park in Venice on Saturday morning may suddenly be surrounded by scores of people with handguns openly strapped to their waists.
At 9 a.m., perhaps as many as 100 gun-toting folks will begin marching for about a mile along West Venice Avenue to the beach, ostensibly to fish. But the larger goal in this first-ever demonstration in Florida is to showcase a loophole in Florida's "open carry" prohibition, which has banned the unauthorized display of firearms in public since 1987.
Under Florida gun statutes, for the past 24 years it has been legal for licensed gun owners to carry a concealed weapon at any time. But it is also legal to carry a weapon openly — and not concealed – while hunting, fishing or camping.
And yet, the gun owners who descend on Venice Saturday will be putting to use a far less well-known part of that law that also allows guns to be carried openly while "going to or returning from" fishing, camping or hunting.
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