The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office is handing out free gun locks less than a month after a toddler shot himself with an unsecured weapon.

The mother of a 5-year- old was arrested after a staff member at a Florida school discovered a gun in the pre‑K student’s backpack on Monday morning, prompting a swift response from school resource deputies, officials said.

The bill would reverse a decision made by the Legislature and then-Gov. Rick Scott to increase the minimum gun-purchase age after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Nikolas Cruz, then 19, used a semi-automatic rifle to kill 17 people at the school.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier says “open carry is the law of the state.”

Most of Central Florida sheriff’s offices say they will no longer enforce Florida’s ban on openly carrying guns after a state appeals court ruled the ban was unconstitutional.

The Justice Department is drawing swift condemnation from gun rights groups and LGBTQ advocates alike after floating that it was considering restricting transgender people from owning guns — a move that would all but certainly face immediate constitutional challenges if ever implemented.

Calling split appellate-court decisions “intolerable,” the National Rifle Association on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a challenge to a Florida law that raised the minimum age to purchase rifles and other long guns from 18 to 21.

Days after a mass shooting at nearby Florida State University, the state Senate appears poised to scuttle a controversial proposal that would allow people under age 21 to buy rifles and other long guns.

Florida lawmakers next week will start the annual legislative session.

A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled against a federal law requiring young adults to be 21 to buy handguns, finding it violated the Second Amendment.

Republican state lawmakers in Florida have filed two bills that would roll back gun control measures passed in the wake of the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

The rate of guns stolen from cars in the U.S. has tripled over the last decade, making them the largest source of stolen guns in the country.

A change is coming to private gun sales in Volusia County. The county council is voted Tuesday night to repeal a rule that requires a background check and a three-day waiting period for private sales at gun shows.

The Transportation Security Administration said it intercepted a record 6,737 firearms at 265 U.S. airport security checkpoints in 2023, surpassing the previous year’s record of 6,542 firearms.

Orange County Public Schools is launching a pilot program that will bring walk-through weapon detectors to some high schools.

Neighborhoods riddled with gun violence suffer from stigma and stereotypes. However, a group of young students are showing their community in a different light.

The Brevard Public Schools board is considering arming staff, including teachers.

Some of those who survived mass shootings have made it their mission to stop another violent incident from happening.

Solutionaries covers big issues that require more than one solution. Gun violence is no exception.

NIBIN, short for National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, is being used across the country. There are some limitations, but the evidence shows it's working.

The 11-year-old accused of taking a loaded gun from his mother's car and shooting two 13-year-olds at an Apopka Pop Warner game is now at least the third time in Central Florida over the past several months where a child has gotten access to a gun and fired it.

Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood is urging parents to check their children’s backpacks and “see what the hell they’re doing” after several guns have been found at schools.

Trooper Steve discusses what Florida law says about having a gun in your car.

Jury selection in the trial of an ex-sheriff's deputy charged with failing to confront the Parkland, Florida, school shooter has gotten off to a speedy start.

Three adults were shot at a gathering in Orlando, police say.

Shay Davis teaches the class and owns and operates a gun shop on the property. He’s been teaching people how to safely handle firearms professionally for six years and has been around guns for most of his life.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 543 into law, which will allow Floridians to carry a concealed firearm without the need for a permit.

The Florida Senate passed its permitless carry bill Thursday, sending it to Gov. DeSantis for his signature.

Authorities say a 16-month-old boy was fatally shot by a 5-year-old sibling at a northwestern Indiana apartment.

Police and court records obtained by The Associated Press show that deputies who were accepted to a Mississippi sheriff's department's special tactical unit have been involved in at least four violent encounters with Black men since 2019 that left two dead and another seriously wounded.

Lawmakers in the Florida House of Representatives passed a bill Friday that would allow people to carry a concealed firearm without a state permit.

With backing from Speaker Paul Renner, a House panel on Monday approved a bill that would lower the minimum age from 21 to 18 to buy rifles and other long guns in Florida.

Two House Republicans on Monday filed a proposal that would lower the minimum age from 21 to 18 to buy rifles and other “long” guns, potentially scrapping a high-profile change passed after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

The House Judiciary Committee backed a proposal that combines allowing people to carry concealed firearms without licenses and efforts to improve school safety, despite Democratic arguments that easing gun restrictions would increase violence.

Last year saw a record number of guns intercepted at airport checkpoints across the country.

A 3-year-old boy shot and killed himself with a handgun at a home near DeLand, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.

Police say the 43-year-old gunman who killed three students and wounded five others at Michigan State University had no apparent connection to the campus.

A Senate Republican on Thursday filed a bill that would allow people to carry concealed firearms without licenses, after the issue started moving forward this week in the House.

Calling the proposal an effort to “remove the government permission slip,” House Speaker Paul Renner on Monday announced legislation that would allow people to carry concealed weapons without licenses.

Orlando tops list of Florida locations, TSA says

A federal appeals court has ruled against a Trump administration ban on bump stocks, the devices that enable a shooter to rapidly fire multiple rounds from a semi-automatic weapon after the initial trigger pull.

Florida heads into 2023 with courts weighing high-profile legal fights.

Payment processor Visa Inc. says it plans to start separately categorizing sales at gun shops.

Police say a Florida woman is facing child neglect charges after a 3-year-old found a gun in a home and shot an infant

The Transportation Security Administration said it’s on track to stop a record-setting number of guns at checkpoints across the country in 2022.

The Supreme Court has ruled that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense, a major expansion of gun rights.

President Joe Biden is nominating an Obama-era U.S. attorney to run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The Bureau of Alchohol, Firearms, Tabacco and Explosives reports from 2016 to 2020, approximately 23,906 unserialized firearms were reported to have been recovered by law enforcement from potential crime scenes.

Deputies arrested a man and a teen following a traffic stop where they recovered three guns, including a stolen handgun and a "ghost gun" which had no serial number, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp says he'll push for a new state law that would loosen the state's handgun requirements.

From elections to vaccines, state and federal courts are weighing major Florida lawsuits. Here are 10 big legal issues to watch in 2022.

The owner says people should look past the Hitler image to see the message conveyed.

An Oviedo High School student faces four charges after causing a scare at homecoming, police say.

The Supreme Court seems ready to strike down a restrictive New York gun permitting law.

Known by his tens of thousands of YouTube fans as "SoloYaker" and "The Armed Fisherman," 41-year-old Michael Taylor was arrested in late March for allegedly illegally recording a phone call with a Brevard Parks and Recreation employee.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal to expand gun rights in the United States in a New York case over the right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense.

ORLANDO, Fla. – With more than 30 years of selling guns under his gun belt, John Lassiter, of Addison’s Gun Shop in Kissimmee, has seen his industry revolve between gun-lows and gun-highs. “I call this a ‘gun run.’ We have been through gun runs before,” Lassiter said. Using data from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the agency responsible for running firearm background checks for those purchasing guns, shows that in the first 10 days of 2021, background checks were up 71%. Industry leaders said the boost is driven by many first-timers: people buying guns for the first time. “A lot of people in the firearms business say 2021 is going to make 2020 look like a normal year,” Lassiter said.

OVIEDO, Fla. – Leaders in Seminole County on Wednesday are expected to unveil a new safety tool aimed at keeping students safe. The school district will take part in a pilot program called Zeroeyes. The weapon detection system uses artificial intelligence to detect guns quickly by using security cameras. District leaders say the pilot program will be conducted at Oviedo High School.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida set a record earlier this year when it comes applications for concealed weapons licenses. Statistics show there were 38,349 new CWL applications in October, in addition to 8,590 CWL renewal applications. There have been at least 36,000 new CWL applications every month since July 2020, with the department projected to process a record 305,043 new applications and 143,749 renewal applications in 2020. In 2019, Florida received 202,698 new CWL applications, and in 2018, there were 188,900 new CWL applications. That’s why we’re hiring more staff and further streamlining our processes to reduce both application review times and customer service times.

NEW YORK – Walmart says it has removed ammunition and firearms from displays at its U.S. stores, citing “civil unrest" in some areas. The nation's largest retailer, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, sells firearms in about half of its 4,700 stores. The discounter said the items remain available for purchase by customers. Last year, Walmart stopped selling handgun and short-barrel rifle ammunition while requesting that customers not openly carry firearms in its stores, even where state laws allow it. The company also ended the sale of handguns in Alaska, the only state where the discounter sold them.

TITUSVILLE, Fla. – Complaints from residents about a home in Titusville resulted in police finding drugs and stolen firearms, officials said. According to police, half of the seized firearms had been previously reported stolen to law enforcement. Latasha Lanette Staley, 39, of Titusville is charged with felony child neglect. “This collective effort from police and community members resulted in taking multiple guns and drugs off the streets of our city”, said SIS Sergeant Troy Barbour. “This incident remains ongoing investigation by the Titusville Police Department,” officials said.

(Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) Walmart is moving firearms and ammunition out of some U.S. stores. The company issued a statement saying, "As a responsible seller of hunting and sporting firearms, we have temporarily removed firearms and ammunition from the sales floor in some stores out of an abundance of caution.The move comes after nationwide protests against the death of George Floyd. Many businesses, including major retailers such as Target, were damaged or looted during the unrest.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A controversial measure involving guns at some churches in Florida is headed to the floor of the state House. The Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved legislature that would allow people with concealed-weapons licenses to take their guns to churches, synagogues and other places of worship that share property with a school. State law generally allows guns at churches but bans residents from being armed on school property. They are a sitting target," state Rep. Ramon Alexander said. Opponents of the bill argue the move could lead to people having guns on school property when there is no religious meeting.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Orange County Sheriff John Mina on Monday joined two Florida lawmakers who are pushing to keep guns more secure. State Sen. Victor Torres and State Rep. Joy Goff-Marcil have filed bills that would require any business that sells guns to keep them secure during non-business hours. According to the bills, stores would either have to use a cable to keep guns in place or lock them in a cabinet or safe. Mina said the new law is needed because burglars are able to quickly steal guns.