JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida law enforcement agencies will no longer arrest or prosecute people for openly carrying firearms in most public places, following a state appeals court decision that struck down the state’s longstanding open carry ban as unconstitutional.

Attorney General James Uthmeier on Monday directed officers across the state to stop enforcing the open carry prohibition after the First District Court of Appeal found it conflicted with the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

“This is a restoration of a right that we lost in Florida almost 40 years ago,” said Eric Friday, general counsel for Florida Carry, who helped lead the case challenging the law. “We have a right to carry. We have a right to bear arms in the state and in this country.”

Local agencies, including the J

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