A Letter to the Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners (9/9/2009):
Dear Commissioners,
I have recently been asked for an opinion as to whether a visitor to a Hillsborough County Park can carry a concealed firearm while on park grounds given the prohibition set forth in Ordinance No. 08-17. Since this opinion concerns a resident of Hillsborough County, I thought it best to share the results of my research with you.
The ordinance in question states, in pertinent part that “No person, except Law Enforcement Officers, shall carry, possess, or use firearms of any type within the Parks or Park Property.” While I am uncertain why the County would pass an ordinance preventing a mother from trying to legally carry a firearm in a public park, unless this ordinance has been subsequently revoked, it does appear to be a problem since Florida is a “Preemption State” and it’s counties and cities are not permitted to maintain their own firearm’s laws.
Section 790.33, Florida Statutes states that the legislature occupies the whole field of firearm regulation, including possession, to the exclusion of all existing and future county, city, or municipal ordinances or regulations, and any such existing ordinances are hereby void. The statute further reads that it is the intent of the statute to provide uniform laws in the state of Florida, to declare all ordinances and regulations null and void which have been enacted by any other jurisdiction other than state and federal.
Since the Florida Constitution states that political subdivisions cannot maintain laws that conflict with state law, I’ve concluded this prohibition against lawfully concealed firearms in county parks to be null and void.
So it appears that if someone is properly concealing her firearm, and has her valid Drivers License and License to Carry a Concealed Weapon or Firearm, that she is within her rights and within the law.
State law does prohibit concealed firearms in many locations such as jails, police departments, schools, bus stops, polling places, and any government facility where a meeting of a county commission, city council, school board, water management, or special district is taking place. Public parks are not one of Florida’s prohibited places.
If you are relying on another authority that I have not considered, please advise. Otherwise, I will be advising my clients accordingly so that they can protect themselves and their loved ones without the threat of criminal prosecution for legally carrying concealed firearms in Hillsborough County parks.
I hope that the county does not maintain any signs at park entrances that misrepresent the current state of the legal order with respect to this issue, and if there are, that they can be modified or removed promptly.
Regards,
J. Patrick Buckley III, Esq.
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Mr. Buckley, thank you for all of your hard work towards ensuring that all law-abiding citizens in FL may exercise our 2nd Amendment rights.
ReplyDeleteWhile doing some research on CCW today, I saw on the Florida Concealed Carry forum that Hillsborough County conceded to you that the local ordinance (08-17) is, in fact, null and void, as far as the firearms policy goes. Would it be possible for you to post the entire response that you received from the county, so that those who wish to legally carry can print out a copy and keep it with them until the ordinance is actually changed to reflect this and local law enforcement officers and county parks staff are informed of the change?
Again, thank you for your tireless work on behalf of us all.