The Metropolis of Okeechobee, Florida, adopted an unlawful ordinance shortly earlier than Hurricane Helene made landfall final week, which banned the sale of weapons and ammunition and prohibited firearm possession in public by anybody aside from legislation enforcement or members of the navy.
Donald C. Hagan, the Chief of the Okeechobee Police Division, signed the unlawful ordinance, copies of which rapidly rebounded across the web. Chief Hagan didn’t instantly return calls or emails looking for his feedback for this story.
The Metropolis of Okeechobee has a inhabitants of 5,432 souls and sits on the north finish of a big freshwater lake for which the city attracts its identify.
Florida Carry, Inc., despatched a letter to the Okeechobee metropolis council and Chief Hagan Saturday, warning the recipients they’ve violated Florida’s highly effective preemption statute, which solely permits the state legislature to control firearms. Any public official who violates the preemption statute might be faraway from workplace and fined as much as $5,000, which the statute requires them to pay personally.
The letter, which was written by Florida Carry, Inc. Normal Counsel Eric J. Friday, spells out that the pro-gun group has adequate standing to carry a lawsuit if the ordinance is just not repealed inside 30 days.
“As a Florida registered non-profit membership group representing the pursuits of defensive weapons and firearms house owners who lawfully carry all through the state, Florida Carry has the mandatory standing to provoke authorized motion concerning this problem to make sure compliance with state legislation and the cessation of those violations of basic civil rights. Hundreds of thousands of Floridians lawfully carry defensive firearms and weapons daily to guard themselves and their households. We are going to see to it that they don’t face a patchwork of rules that are not possible for them to maintain up with as they traverse our nice state,” Friday wrote.
Friday additionally demanded the cost of $30,000 in damages and attorneys’ charges to “resolve this matter previous to initiation of litigation.”
The unlawful ordinance, Friday identified, was apparently handed pursuant to an unrelated state statute, which permits the governor to droop firearm and ammunition gross sales if “there’s cause to imagine that there exists a transparent and current hazard of a riot or different common public dysfunction, widespread disobedience of the legislation, and substantial damage to individuals or to property, all of which represent an imminent risk to public peace or order and to the final welfare of the jurisdiction affected or an element or components thereof.”
“To my information there have been no violent acts, defiance of lawful authority, or every other of those required parts previous to the declaration of emergency to justify its passage,” he wrote. “The denial of a constitutional proper can’t stand on conjecture.”
Comparable Acts
Banning arms and ammunition gross sales throughout a state of emergency is just not fully unknown in Florida, however the offender is often a newly employed supervisor of a big-box retailer who misinterpret or conflated state statutes. For a metropolis council and chief of police to infringe upon their residents’ civil rights is uncommon.
“It’s clear from this ordinance that the only real goal of invoking this part was to disclaim residents the best to buy and possess firearms and ammunition in direct contravention of state legislation and the constitutional rights of people wishing to buy and possess firearms and ammunition for protection of themselves and the State,” Friday wrote.
Florida Carry, Inc. co-founder and government director, Sean Caranna, identified that town officers’ intent was suspect, no matter how they misunderstood or misinterpreted state statutes.
“They need to name this ordinance the ‘Metropolis of Okeechobee looter safety act,’” Caranna stated.
This story courtesy of the Second Modification Basis’s Investigative Journalism Mission. Click on right here to make a tax-deductible donation to assist the venture.
