Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Ten South Florida cities sued the state Monday, seeking the power to regulate firearms locally without paying fines or losing elected officials.
There has been a national conversation about guns after the Feb. 14 Parkland school shooting that killed 17 students and staff and wounded 17 more. Now, some cities want to undo a Florida law that prevents them from passing local gun-control laws.
They’re challenging a 2011 state statute, backed by the gun lobby, that outlines penalties for elected officials who try to enact local gun laws, including a $5,000 fine and the prospect of being removed from office.
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said the rules “let everyone in the state of Florida know the NRA can get what it wants."
The cities are suing Gov. Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi and other state officials, alleging that the Florida law is invalid and unconstitutional.
The lawsuit states the governor should not be able to remove an elected official for violating the firearm rules because it “is not tantamount to an indictment for committing a crime.”
Weston officials said their lawsuit “seeks to invalidate the extreme and extraordinary penalties that deter and chill local officials from even considering reasonable, constitutional firearms regulations in their own communities.”
Attorneys have asked the case be expedited because of its public importance. Weston Mayor Dan Stermer said it’s likely the case will take years and wind its way up to the Florida Supreme Court.
Nine cities joined Weston including: Cutler Bay, Lauderhill, Miami Beach, Miami Gardens, Miramar, the village of Pinecrest, Pompano Beach and South Miami.
Coral Gables, which also joined the lawsuit, dropped a plan last month to ban the sale of military-style rifles, saying it would open the city up to lawsuits.
"The monetary exposure was too much,” Coral Gables Mayor Raúl Valdés-Fauli said Monday.
Valdés-Fauli had initially proposed banning the sale of any firearm “capable of fully automatic, semiautomatic or burst fire.” The legislation identified 65 gun makes, including an AR-15, the rifle used in the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
“It’s the right thing to do, and I’m glad Weston has taken the lead,” he said. “It’s unconstitutional because we have the duty to regulate our zoning and public safety. The state is making it impossible for us.”
Lauderhill Mayor Richard Kaplan said the state’s restrictions are not fair to cities: “It makes it an intolerable situation.”
He said cities have to fight it “because then they’ll do it another area and then another area. The Legislature went too far and the cities have to say ‘no’ and if we don’t say no they’ll do it on another area because they think they can get away with it.”
If the penalties were repealed, the mayor of Pompano Beach wants to regulate gun shows at public facilities. The mayor of Miramar said he want to prohibit guns at the city’s 5,000-seat amphitheater.
Other governments are expected to follow the lawsuit.
On April 10, Broward County commissioners are expected to ask their attorney to file a lawsuit against the state, challenging the laws. The county wants to create regulate accessories to firearms such as large capacity magazines, and create zoning ordinances that could outlaw guns at all times in some areas such as polling places and school administration buildings.
“Local residents are demanding these types of actions,” said Commissioner Michael Udine, whose district includes Parkland. “We should be able to make these common sense types of ordinances to deal with our local population. I think this is something people are still talking about and I think people want to see common sense regulations. And that’s the bottom line.”