Concealed Carry
Courtesy Galco

By Lee Williams

New York native Christopher McClenic says he founded the Stop Permitless Carry in Florida political action committee four months ago to “make life easier for law enforcement.” 

McClenic, a retired Secret Service special agent, takes issue with CS/HB543, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law April 3. The law, which took effect July 1, authorizes Floridians and out-of-state visitors who meet specific requirements to carry a concealed firearm without a state license. 

“It doesn’t make life easier for law enforcement,” McClenic said Monday. “I’m doing it for law enforcement.”

Unfortunately for McClenic, Florida law enforcement doesn’t want his help. CS/HB543 was widely supported by the state’s sheriffs, police chiefs and rank-and-file officers. 

“I don’t need anyone from New York coming down here and telling me how to exercise my constitutional rights,” Sarasota County (Florida) Sheriff Kurt Hoffman said Monday. “We have had zero issues post-July 1 with the implementation of the law. I get asked about it a lot, and it has not in any way, shape or form impacted the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, except we have a lot more armed citizens out there who would back us up if needed, and I’m sure they would.” 

Sarasota County (Florida) Sheriff Kurt Hoffman

McClenic’s anti-gun musings were published Sunday by The Palm Beach Post in a guest editorial titled, “Gov. Ron DeSantis’ gun law for ‘permitless carry’ violates the U.S. Constitution.” McClenic described CS/HB543 as “sham laws that only benefit DeSantis’ presidential ambitions.” 

The editorial described McClenic as a Florida attorney: “Christopher A. McClenic is a Boynton Beach lawyer and founder of spcfl.org, which stands for Say no to Permitless Carry in Florida.”  However, according to The Florida Bar, McClenic isn’t eligible to practice law in Florida because he owes the Bar money. 

“I wouldn’t publish that,” McClenic said in an interview Monday. “It’s my dues – I’ll be taking care of that as soon as I get home. I’ve been a federal prosecutor.” 

According to Jennifer Krell Davis, communications director for The Florida Bar, McClenic’s law license was suspended Oct. 3, 2023, “due to delinquent fees.” 

There’s more. Even a cursory look at McClenic and his PAC raises serious questions about the vetting he received, if any, before the newspaper published his anti-gun editorial. 

What’s in a name 

To be clear, Florida has never issued concealed-carry permits. Florida issues licenses – Concealed Weapon or Firearm Licenses known as CWFLs…not permits. This was news to the founder of “Stop Permitless Carry in Florida.” 

“Oh, I apologize for that,” McClenic said. 

Asked whether his new group was a nonprofit, McClenic said, “Yes.” Then, asked why his nonprofit was not registered with the Florida Secretary of State, McClenic said, “It’s a PAC. It’s a political action committee. You caught me in the middle of something. It’s not a nonprofit.” 

Stop Permitless Carry is registered with the Division of Elections. Since its founding on July 2, 2023, it has received one donation of $100. So far, the money remains untouched. 

McClenic says his PAC “will reach out to legislators to help overturn HB543.” He plans to give lawmakers money from his PAC to influence their decisions. However, Florida’s Lobbyist Registration Office has no record of McClenic. He later acknowledged he is not a registered lobbyist in the state. 

“I will be meeting with commissioners later this week in reference to this point,” he said, adding later they are city commissioners. CS/HB543 is state law. 

McClenic’s website is spartan, consisting of four main pages and one ‘to donate’ page. The PAC’s mission is to remove pro-gun lawmakers. 

“SPC is committed to replacing partisan lawmakers with those who understand the need for responsible firearm handling, as well as advocating for state legislators to handle this issue when they meet in Tallahassee,” the website states. “How will we accomplish this mission? There will be three elements to our efforts: electoral, legislative and grass roots support. SPC will assist both candidates and elected officials in the Florida House and Senate who will support bills banning Permitless Carry. With contributions, digital media and even mailers, SPC offers a means to help win some of the most competitive political races in the state as well as bring an end to a senseless and dangerous law.”

McClenic believes his PAC and pro-gun groups, “have a lot in common.” 

“Whether pro or anti firearm ownership, Democrat, Independent or Republican, the majority of each of these groups agree: permitless carry of firearms is senseless, politically motivated and dangerous!” the website states. 

“I hope that the Second Amendment Foundation and SPC can become friends on Twitter,” McClenic said. 

Legal history

According to his LinkedIn page, McClenic served as a Secret Service special agent from 1999 to 2022. He began in Miami, went to Washington D.C. during the Clinton administration and then returned to Florida, he said.  

For his last few years, McClenic also worked as a “Special Assistant United States Attorney.” 

“As a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division, I was responsible for prosecuting federal crimes, including offenses involving drug trafficking and smuggling; child exploitation; gang activity, financial crimes and violence; illegal immigration; national security and border security; elder abuse; cybercrime; theft of intellectual property; and financial crimes, complex fraud and/or corruption in government, health care, banking, securities, corporate activities, federal procurement, bankruptcies, and federal taxation. I also worked with law enforcement agencies to investigate such crimes, researched and briefed legal issues, and represented the United States in hearings, trials, and appeals,” his LinkedIn page states. 

This, too, raises questions. 

A “Special” Assistant U.S. Attorney, or SAUSA, lacks the full authority of an actual Assistant U.S. Attorney, or AUSA. 

For example, The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia is currently seeking SAUSAs for uncompensated positions – their SAUSAs will receive no pay. The positions are temporary and will not exceed one year. Candidates will serve in the Misdemeanor and Domestic Violence-Misdemeanor Sections of the Office’s Superior Court Division.

From 2002 to September 2023, McClenic worked as a municipal prosecutor for the city of Hollywood, Florida, where he was paid $48,358 annually. Last year he founded his own firm, Christopher McClenic, PA in Boynton Beach, Florida. 

Takeaways

Real police aren’t always big fans of the Secret Service, especially during a presidential visit. There’s nothing like watching grizzled street veterans taking orders from a 25-year-old kid wearing a fancy earpiece and talking into his sleeve.  

Every Florida officer I’ve spoken to about CS/HB543 – and I’ve spoken to more than a few – strongly supports the law. They understand the value of armed citizens. Some Florida Sheriffs even offer free firearm training for their residents. They want their people armed. They know we are our own First Responders. 

The Florida Bar goes to great lengths to avoid suspending an attorney’s license to practice law. The renewal notice comes at the same time every year. The Bar sends emails reminding attorneys that the payment is coming up. They do not want to pronounce anyone ineligible to practice law if it can be avoided, because it is a crime in Florida to practice law without a license – a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison. 

Once their license is suspended, attorneys are required by law to notify their clients in writing of the suspension. They’re prohibited from even saying that they’re an attorney until their license is reinstated. 

Floridians as a whole aren’t big fans of folks coming down here and telling us what to do, especially if they want to infringe upon our Second Amendment rights – especially if they’re from New York. 

McClenic’s PAC is unlikely to receive a warm reception, given all the concerns about his legal status and his true intent. 

Of course, none of this matters to the legacy media. As long as someone is willing to demonize guns and/or the governor, nothing else really matters. I doubt we’ve heard the last of McClenic and his strangely named PAC. 

 

The Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project wouldn’t be possible without you. Click here to make a tax deductible donation to support pro-gun stories like this.

This story is part of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project and is published here with their permission.

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67 COMMENTS

    • From the article:

      “…Secret Service…a 25-year-old kid wearing a fancy earpiece and talking into his sleeve.”

      I highly doubt the SS deploys 25-yr-olds into sensitive tasks. Bend the truth a little here, a little there, and soon the entire article is ignored.

      • Probably not. But he does make a useful idiot for the gun control group. The higher ups can always throw him under the bus if the need arises. That young punk is just too stupid too realize it.

    • Not going to buy much favor among FL legislators with that lousy hundred bucks, I spent about three times that much last week on gas and taking the wife out to dinner…

  4. There are myriad cautionary tales about allowing only the police to be armed.
    Perhaps Mr. McClenic should read “Ordinary Men”.

  5. Fucking Yankee Ass Carpetbagger… Fuck around in Florida you better leave your gun at home because Florida does not have a reciprocal agreement with NY so your permission slip won’t work here… Fucking moron… OBTW, you’re five months too late asshole…

    • I need to double check but do NY residents even need a permit to carry in Florida? Technically they would need one to own a pistol at all but in the end it’s dirtbags like him that make it so I am not even mad when I get looks for my plates.

        • It would appear (the way it reads) that as long as you are not prohibited by FL law anyone 21 or over (or military personnel) can carry a concealed weapon regardless of residency status (must be US citizen) under the new law… So, I guess Clown boy CAN carry his firearm in my state…

        • If it makes you feel any better he still needs a NY license to own one so long as he lives here ………unless he is being a typical NY anti civil rights lawyer.

    • “Florida does not have a reciprocal agreement with NY so your permission slip won’t work here…”

      See the video just above, it looks like that no longer applies…

  6. “It doesn’t make life easier for law enforcement,” McClenic said Monday. “I’m doing it for law enforcement.”

    Well, he is welcome go and work on his (obviously-lacking) coping skills, then.

    As no other than the esteemed ‘Founding Father’ Thomas Jefferson once wrote (in Latin) :

    “Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem.”

    Literal translation : “I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude.”

    Roughly-translated today, “I prefer dangerous freedom to peaceful slavery.”

    https://www.monticello.org/research-education/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia/i-prefer-dangerous-freedom-over-peaceful-slavery-quotation/

    Personally, I hope he inserts a standard telephone pole anally, sideways… 😉

  7. It just sounds to me that he is perpetually broke. Since his PAC is currently essentially unfunded, it will have no impact on Legislators until he gets his other ducks in order. But when push comes to shove, this law already passed and was signed by the Governor. How is this apparently unsuccessful attorney going to get 50% of the State Legislature to overturn it? He won’t be doing it on Constitutional grounds, not after Bruen.

    • Let me guess: he was on a flight to FLorida last July when this new carry bill was being negotiated, and happened to chat up the only two people returning to Florida who did nott like the bill. So he thinks he’s got a money pot in trying to reverse what is now solid and well-loved law.

      So he’s worked for FedGov. It shows in his twisted values and attitude. Let the fool and his money continue digging a deep hole. Let him hie hi sorry bckside back to Noo Yawk. They see to appreciate his twisted values up there.

      Friend of mine filnally managed to escape NYC about a year ago. Inherited the rent-conrolled flat his Mum had let back in latte 1950’s. He made a deal with the landlord who gave him the cash he needed to go buy a ten acre farm in Vermont. Apartment owner is ecstatic as he can now refurb the dump and fetch $3K/Mo for rent instead of my friend’s former $450. Four years to even after buying my friend his new farm. Part of friend’s desire to escape is that he was never able to qualify for a Mother May I Card in NY state. He is a licensed private investigator in both NY and California. Still not good enough for those eedjits. He doesn’t need any papers in Vermont. Just his guns.

      • “So he thinks he’s got a money pot in trying to reverse what is now solid and well-loved law.”

        He is building street creds for “doing something”. Even a failed attempt at gun control is a victory to use in whipping up the base.

      • “Let me guess: he was on a flight to FLorida last July when this new carry bill was being negotiated, and happened to chat up the only two people returning to Florida who did nott like the bill. So he thinks he’s got a money pot in trying to reverse what is now solid and well-loved law.”

        More likely, he’s a typical Leftist-Fascist that thinks everyone thinks like he does…

  8. This guy is just trying to pull something out of his ass. He needs to pack his bags and take them back to NY. He won’t be missed here.

  9. Permitless carry = no interaction with police unless you’re actually doing something to attract police

    Permit-required carry = police have to interact with you to check your permit

    Somehow that’s easier for police? Is it easier for police to stop every car and check the driver for a license?

  10. A different line of work since this guy lost his free ride on the coattail of Bill down to “He didn’t kill himself” island.

  11. Pay attention to these people who are trying to overturn “permitless carry, ETC, they are attacking simple legislation that can be neutered by majority votes. On the whole, the anti-gunners are attacking all along the line. It works, because they have proven that eventually, their targets will get fed up with defending 2A. Evil rests, good folks want to get on with their lives.

  14. My question is, how come this fool does not just stay in New York where he can have all the gun control he could ever want, and leave pro-gun states alone? Just stay the hell away already. Stop trying to force us to be as miserable as you rotten bastards. I am sure no one in Florida invited you…or even asked for your opinion.

    • Because the idea of someone living their life without the complete and absolute control of the educated, enlightened (aka “woke) elites just scares the living fuk out of them…

  15. Oh I see, I read on the New York sucks article people are moving from New York to Florida. Makes sense, move from what we say we dont like and make where we moved just like the place we didnt like.
    Kinda like what JRB is doing to America and the English escaping Kings.

  17. This a-hole is a lawyer apparently. Just because his job description said “agent” doesn’t mean he has any relevant experience or an informed opinion.

  19. Captain America seems like a typical carpetbagging grifter. I hope he doesn’t spend the hundred bucks in one place.

  22. So, would anyone like to explain how a permit slip is somehow going to identify who has a firearm? Or how LE would even need to know if you have a weapon while going about your day to day life.

    • Star Treck facial recognition sht.
      Big Brother constantly scans and matches every aspect of our lives.
      It knows if you’ve been naughty or nice, what you’ve purchased, where you go, who your friends are, what you have or don’t have.
      Theres no escape, it watches from space.
      *click,click, buzzz, whirrr*

  23. “It doesn’t make life easier for law enforcement,”

    When one examines the US Constitution, it was designed to make life easier for CITIZENS, not to make life easy for government. Police forces are the executive arm of government, after all. Whether that government be a tiny village, a large state, or the federal government, police are the executive arm of government. The constitution was explicitly designed to limit the powers of government, and to make life harder for would-be tyrants.

    Law enforcement doesn’t really get much of a voice in lawmaking. Cops uphold the law, they don’t make law.

  25. How can a law that basically pursues the Constitution’s statement of “shall not be infringed'” be unconstitutional?

    How did the previous laws work for police? I think it will likely be a wash as to the number of “person with a gun” calls.

    If they want to improve citizen-civil servant relations and make things safer on cops, they should abolish all license mandates and make them optional. This would avoid police misinterpreting the laws via ignorance or malice. And avoid having any unconstitutional/police state mentality encounters between peaceable citizens and cops.

    If you have seen any of the videos of fishing or traveling to a fishing location while carrying videos from Florida, you know what I mean.

    • I am boycotting christmas.
      I’m boycotting everything.
      Nothing but the bare essentials. Food water gas work&(emu🙂).
      .giv needs taught a lesson and this is the only way to do it non violently.
      This is what bidenomics reaped.
      A one man boycott dont get much done.
      Americans will piss and moan, tighten their belts and continue to suffer the cost of Disneyland, but they wont quit going.

      • MADDMAXX November 22, 2023 At 20:13
        Your comment is awaiting moderation
        I am boycotting christmas.

        Not me, got a seven-foot tree in the family room and four footers in the dining room and master bedroom, 80,000 lights outside… I want to shove it right in their left-wing god hating faces and dare them to say something… Fuks Disneyland?

        Well: Isn’t THAT speshulll, looks like the “algorithm” is my FIRST hater… Fuk off algo…

      • What does it mean when the most anti gun, dacian, tries to shame us into joining the nra? It means the nra has been fully corrupted.

        And again, dacian, thanx for helping to sell more AR15’s. Every comment you post here sells a bunch.

        • Yeah, every time a story comes up that I even THINK DacyBoy will comment on I buy another gun and a case of ammo… I’ve got a whole room dedicated to Vlad’s dumbassedness (is that a word? fuk it don’t care)…

    • dacian, the DUNDERHEAD, it seems you are not as well versed on the Constitution as you claim. (But then you aren’t an expert on firearms eitdher; still waiting for your answer to the question: What is the firing sequence of a cartridge? Do you even know what a cartridge is ? ). You see the First Amendment gives Americans the right of association. We don’t all march in lock step like you Lefties do.

      If someone chooses not to be a member of the NRA that is his/her choice.

  28. FBI Releases Special Edition Jan 6 Footage DVD With Director’s Commentary > https://babylonbee.com/news/fbi-to-record-44000-hours-of-directors-commentary-for-january-6th-extended-version

    (note: there is a part in this satire piece which turns out to be actually or likely true ‘interactively’ after the 44,000 hours of video hidden by the democrats was found and viewed. That part, in the satire wording in their indirect manner, are “federal agents who infiltrated the Trump rally and directly instigated entering the Capitol building” – and – “the experts, and no one knows January 6 better than the people who orchestrated the entire show,’ said Wray. ‘Which is us. We did January 6.’ ” — or the short version is , although there was some, in relation to the overall crowd which was not ‘rioting’ and were actually being peaceful, a very small number of people who did do some unpeaceful and illegal things, the democrats did it via the FBI and then tried to cover it up by hiding the parts which would indicate they did it in the democrat witch hunt Jan 6 commission)

    • And here I thought the Babylon Bee was just for objective pandemic reporting. Going to be a wild election season if big tech cant limit the narrative.

    • A long time ago I went to some protest. One was the building of a Nuke plant.
      What we found was .giv would indeed send in infiltrators to turn a peaceful protest into a riot.

  29. Absolute comedy gold! If only all of our enemies were like this doofus. This is obviously a money-making scheme.

  30. Stay in New York with the rest of your leftist whack jobs and leave Florida alone, it’s just the opposite when citizens can help control criminals.

  33. Sounds like a slime-ball lawyer working a scam to get money from the Soros or Bloomberg anti-gun groups so he can write off his Florida trips and condo as ‘business expenses’ when he is enjoying his time there. Stay in NY and mind your own business, dude. Compare the crime stats between NY and Florida and discover which is the safest state. Years ago when Florida allowed open/CCW via the license process, the media went berserk claiming that it would be the ‘Wild West’ again with ‘blood flowing in the streets’. In fact, the overall crime rate decreased. More bad guys got shot than victims. The law allowed law-abiding citizens the means to defend themselves. This shyster is just working a scam to pay for his Florida trips.

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