GOA Endorses Greg Steube in Florida's 17th — Here's His Record
Gun Owners of America endorses Rep. Greg Steube for reelection in Florida's 17th Congressional District and wants voters to cast ballots for him on November 3, 2026. GOA grades Steube an A+. The endorsement rests on a voting record that started in the Florida Legislature and carried into Congress. Early voting is already underway. Florida voters can check their county Supervisor of Elections website for locations and hours before they head to the polls.
Key Details
GOA's endorsement lists several bills and votes as the basis for its grade:
- Campus carry (HB 4001, 2016): Steube sponsored legislation that would let concealed license holders carry in college and university facilities. GOA says he fought for it on the Florida House floor.
- Open carry (SB 140, 2017): As a state senator, he introduced a bill to let Floridians openly carry handguns. GOA says he pushed back against Republican leadership that wanted to keep existing restrictions in place.
- Parkland response (SB 7026, 2018): Steube opposed this package, which included an under-21 purchase ban and a bump stock ban.
- National reciprocity (H.R. 38, 2025): He cosponsored the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2025, which would require states to honor lawful concealed carry permits from other states.
- NFA repeal (H.R. 3228): Steube signed on as an original cosponsor of the Constitutional Hearing Protection Act. The bill would remove suppressors from the National Firearms Act and end the associated federal tax and registration requirements.
On Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. local time. Voters who are still in line at closing can still cast a ballot.
Background
Florida has long restricted open carry of handguns, and concealed carry has run through a state licensing system since 1987. Steube's campus and open carry bills targeted those limits from inside the Legislature. In 2023, Florida enacted permitless carry, allowing eligible adults 21 and older to carry concealed without a license.
The 2018 fight over SB 7026 followed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, which killed 17 people on February 14, 2018. The resulting law raised the minimum age for purchasing any firearm to 21 and banned bump stocks. Florida's under-21 purchase ban has faced a federal court challenge. The Eleventh Circuit, sitting en banc, upheld the law in 2025.
The Supreme Court's 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen changed the test courts apply to gun laws. Government must now show that a restriction matches the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation. Reciprocity and NFA repeal bills sit in a different category. They would change federal law rather than respond to a court ruling. The National Firearms Act of 1934 imposed a $200 tax on suppressors. Congress cut that tax to zero for most NFA items effective January 1, 2026, but registration remained in place.
Why It Matters for Gun Owners
Florida gun owners feel these votes first. Anyone who carries a concealed weapon in Florida and crosses into another state depends on reciprocity. A federal reciprocity law would replace the patchwork of state-by-state recognition with one national standard, but only if Congress passes it. Until then, check the reciprocity rules for every state on your route, and do not assume your Florida permit covers you everywhere.
Suppressor owners should track H.R. 3228 closely. Passage would take suppressors out of the NFA entirely and end the federal registration requirement that applies to them now. Owners who already hold a suppressor would see a major change in their paperwork obligations.
Florida college students, faculty, and staff should review their campus carry rules before the next semester. Florida's campus carry debate has gone through multiple sessions, so confirm which facilities allow concealed carry and which do not. Adults aged 18 to 20 in Florida still cannot buy a firearm from a dealer, and anyone in that age group who wants to own one should understand that the under-21 ban remains enforceable.
DownRange Analysis
GOA's endorsement is a political document, and it deserves a political reading. The bills GOA lists show a consistent pattern: Steube pushes to expand carry rights and to roll back federal regulation. That pattern matters more than any single grade. Voters should ask a simple question. Will he keep voting that way when the next package hits the floor?
Under Bruen, the under-21 purchase ban is the hardest case for supporters of gun rights to win. The en banc Eleventh Circuit ruling shows that courts will not automatically strike age limits. Steube's record of opposing SB 7026 does not change that legal reality. A court win requires a different argument, and endorsements do not produce one.
Here is what a Florida gun owner should do right now. Check your voter registration and your polling place. Vote early or on November 3. Ask your congressional candidates where they stand on H.R. 38 and H.R. 3228, and get a clear answer. Then track those bills by number, because a cosponsor line matters only if the bill moves.
