Florida County Warned It's Not in Compliance With State Law

And this time around it's not Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier doing the warning. Instead, Second Amendment group Florida Carry has informed officials in Alachua County that it's found four separate ordinances on the books that are incompatible with state statute. 

The first deals with the county's ordinance that supposedly gives a designated "Official Authority" the power to "[s]uspend or limit the sale, dispensing, or transportation of alcoholic beverages, firearms, explosives, and combustibles" during a declared state of emergency. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation last year that removed the ability of local governments to limit or suspend sales of firearms and ammunition during states of emergencies, and it's unclear why Alachua County hasn't repealed its ordinance before now. 

The second problem Florida Carry found with the county's ordinances is a measure that prohibits the use of firearms on Bivins Arm Lake, which has been designated as a wildlife sanctuary. That would appear to run afoul of Florida's preemption law, which prohibits localities from regulating, among other things, the possession of firearms.

Florida Carry also takes issue with an ordinance that states "No person, except law enforcement officers as defined and provided for in F.S. ch. 790, shall carry firearms, explosives, or destructive devices, as defined in ch. 790, either openly or concealed, into the county courthouse."

The final ordinance that Florida Carry is calling out directs the county administrator to "prepare, post, and maintain proper and adequate notice signs at the entrance to the courthouse building, notifying persons of the electronic security scan device and the prohibition regarding the carrying of firearms, weapons, explosives, or destructive devices into the courthouse."

I confess that I'm a little confused about this. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which oversees the state's concealed carry licensing system, states on its website that courthouses are off-limits to those with a concealed license. Other agencies like the Jacksonville Sheriff's Department warn that openly carrying firearms is still prohibited in a number of restricted areas, including courthouses. Florida statute 790.06(12)(a)4 names courthouses as a restricted area as well. 

Florida Carry's letter to Alachua County officials argues that the county "regulates the possession, carrying, or lawful use of firearms on county property, a subject the Legislature has expressly reserved to the State, to the exclusion of regulation by the county." That's true, especially concerning the wildlife sanctuary, but even if the county repeals its ordinance prohibiting firearms from the county courthouse, it appears that state statute still precludes gun owners from carrying in that location.

Is it a violation of Florida's preemption statute for the county to post signage warning that firearms can't be carried into the county courthouse? Maybe if the signage cites the county ordinance, but I don't see anything in the preemption law that precludes localities from posting signs about locations that have been deemed off-limits to lawful carry by the state legislature. Still, Sean Caranna and the folks at Florida Carry know a lot more about the intricacies of state statute than I do, so if they take issue with the county's language about guns in courthouses I assume they're on solid legal ground. I've sent an inquiry to Caranna asking for more information about the courthouse ordinances and how they conflict with state law, and I'll update this post if and when I receive a reply. 

The Alachua County Board of Commissioners is set to address Florida Carry's concerns at its August 11 meeting, and we'll see then if county officials believe any of these ordinances are worth defending in court. Given the group's track record with litigation, I'd say board members can save the county a lot of time and money by agreeing to Florida Carry's request and repealing the ordinances in question. 

Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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