GOA Backs Mike Beltran, Who Sponsored Florida's Stalled Open Carry Bill
Gun Owners of America and Fuerza 2A are endorsing Mike Beltran for Florida's 14th Congressional District and asking voters to back him on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. The groups point to a record that includes an A+ GOA rating and a claimed 100% pro-gun voting record. The sharpest piece of that record came in 2024, when Beltran sponsored HB 1619 in the Florida House. GOA helped draft the bill, which would have allowed open carry and carry on university campuses. Republican leadership in Tallahassee refused to move it. GOA's bet is simple: a candidate who will buck his own party in the statehouse will do the same in Washington.
Key Details
The endorsement rests on a few verifiable points, and the rest is GOA's characterization of Beltran's conduct. Here is what the record shows:
- Rating: GOA assigns Beltran an A+ grade and describes his voting record as 100% pro-gun.
- Legislation: In 2024, Beltran sponsored HB 1619 while serving in the Florida House. The bill would have authorized open carry and carry on university campuses.
- Drafting: GOA says it worked directly with Beltran and helped draft the legislation.
- Outcome: Florida House leadership did not advance the bill. It did not become law.
- Endorsing groups: Gun Owners of America and Fuerza 2A.
- Election date: Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
- Polling hours: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time at assigned precincts. Voters still in line at 7 p.m. may vote.
- Early voting: Underway now. Voters find sites and hours through their county Supervisor of Elections website.
GOA frames the sponsorship as proof that Beltran was willing to take a political risk on the Second Amendment. The group says that willingness, more than any single vote, earned its endorsement.
Background
Florida's carry laws have changed fast over the past few years, and that history explains why a state bill from 2024 still matters in a federal race. In 2023, Florida enacted permitless carry through HB 543, which took effect July 1, 2023. That law let adults carry a concealed handgun without a state license. Open carry was a different story. For decades, Florida law effectively banned open carry statewide, and gun owners who carried openly faced arrest. That ban fell in 2025, when Florida's First District Court of Appeal ruled in McDaniels v. State that the statewide prohibition violated the state constitution. The HB 1619 push in 2024 came before that ruling, when the open carry fight still ran through the Legislature. Campus carry remained off-limits for most people, and HB 1619 aimed to change that. Federal courts, meanwhile, have shaped the framework for every carry law in the country. New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022) requires the government to justify firearm regulations by reference to the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation. Bruen gave carry advocates a sharper test for challenging restrictive laws, and it sets the standard any federal lawmaker should understand.
Why It Matters for Gun Owners
Florida voters in the 14th District now decide whether this endorsement carries weight. A federal representative does not write state carry law, but Congress controls the federal statutes that gun owners live under every day. That includes the National Firearms Act, the Gun Control Act, and the federal rules governing interstate transfers. A member who understands carry law at the state level tends to recognize what federal rules do to ordinary owners. Florida residents who carry should watch two things. First, check voter registration and polling location now. Early voting is open, and the Supervisor of Elections site lists hours for each county. Second, if you plan to vote on Election Day, know your window. Polls close at 7 p.m. local time, and anyone standing in line at closing still gets to vote. Gun owners who have already voted can help by reminding friends and family in the district to cast ballots before November 3.
DownRange Analysis
A bill that died in committee proves intent, not outcome. GOA is right that sponsoring HB 1619 took guts when leadership opposed it. But a sponsorship is a signal, not a voting record. Voters should ask Beltran what he would do with federal bills on the NFA, suppressors, interstate carry, and red-flag proposals, then hold him to the answer. Judge a candidate by the bill text he backs and the votes he casts. Bruen rewards owners who build records on text and history, and any federal candidate should be able to argue that way too. The endorsement also rewards a simple habit: do the work before election day. Confirm your registration, pick a polling place, and vote early if you can. Then tell your neighbors to do the same.
