In 1987, the Florida legislature took action to eliminate the patchwork of conflicting firearms local ordinances that plagued firearms owners at that time. At last, they would enjoy a single blanket set of rules that would apply statewide. Although it was a noble concept, it failed miserably in practice. Twenty-three years later, a full two-thirds of Florida counties and countless municipalities, cities, and towns still have ordinances relating to the regulation of firearms. How could this have happened? The links provide insight into the problem.
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-ft-myers/florida-preemption-statute-refused-and-abused
Simply put, a local jurisdiction could publish an ordinance or regulation in conflict with state preemption and the state attorney was obligated to regard it as lawful unless it was successfully challenged in court. However, few persons could muster the funds to mount a legal challenge against a virutally boundless taxpayer-funded local authority. There was no "loser pays" provision to the statute, so even if one was successful in court, one still had to foot the bill.
However, HB 45 marks the beginning of the end to local abuse of state preemption. Long overdue, the bill that has been introduced by Representative Matt Gaetz that provides severe penalties for intentional abuse of the state preemption statute. A summary of the bill, taken from the Florida House of Representatives website states:
"Regulation of Firearms and Ammunition: Prohibits specified persons & entities, when acting in official capacity, from knowingly & willfully regulating or attempting to regulate firearms or ammunition in any manner except as specifically authorized by s. 790.033, F.S., or other general law; provides penalty; eliminates authority of counties to adopt ordinance requiring waiting period between purchase & delivery of handgun; provides that no public funds shall be used to defend unlawful conduct of any person charged with violation of section; provides fines for governmental entities in whose service or employ provisions of section are knowingly & willfully violated; provides for investigation of complaints of criminal violations & prosecution of violators by state attorney; provides exceptions to prohibitions; provides conditional effective date."
Perhaps the title of this article should have referred to huge fangs, rather than mere teeth! A sampling of the punishments for willful disregard of the state statute by a local official/group includes:
- Potential third degree felony conviction
- No public funding for defense of individual charged
- Possible firing/termination of the individual by the Governor
- Up to $5 million in fines to the political entity
- Prosecution by the State Attorney
- Award of attorney's fees to the prevailing party
Of course, there is no guarantee that this bill will make it into law untouched, however it is more than sufficient to serve as a warning to all of Florida's local jurisdictions that the state is finally taking preemption seriously.
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