State ex rel. Russo v. Parker

Citations

• 57 Fla. 170

Syllabus

<p>Mandamus — Constitutional Law — Carrying Arms by License.</p> <p>1. If sections 3267 and 3268 of the General Statutes of 1906, the ■ one making it a misdemeanor to carry or have in one’s possession any pistol or winchester or other repeating rifle without having a license from the County Commissioners, the other providing for the grant of such license by the Commissioners, are not unconstitutional and void as being in conflict with section twenty (20) of the Declaration of Rights in our organic law, then an answer by the Commissioners to an alternative writ of mandamus instituted to coerce the granting of such a license, to the effect that the applicant for such license was unknown to them, and that the witnesses produced by him as to his good moral character were also unknown to them and that they had not been made satisfied of the applicant’s good moral character, furnishes a conclusive defense to such mandamus, and the court in such a case is right in dismissing the mandamus proceeding. On the other hand if said two sections of the law are unconstitutional and void, then mandamus will not lie to compel the performance of an act required to be performed by a void law.</p> <p>2. Where a court can effectually and properly dispose of a case without passing upon the constitutionality of a statute involved, it is its duty to do so.</p>