Florida Court of Appeals Affirms Order Blocking Enforcement of Broward County Gun Control Ordinances

[Charlie T Waite]

WEST PALM BEACH, FL (March 24, 2021) — Today, Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal issued an opinion in Broward County v. Florida Carry, which determined that three Broward County ordinances “clearly regulate guns,” and are thus preempted by state law.

In its opinion, the Court held that Broward County “may not regulate indirectly what it cannot regulate directly”, and that the county’s ordinances “regulating weapons and guns at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport… regulating weapons at North Perry Airport, and… regulating weapons by operators of common motor carriers” “violate section 790.33, which prohibits local regulation of firearms or anything ‘related to firearms’ and expressly preempts ‘the whole field of regulation of firearms and ammunition.’” In addition, The Court also determined that “[e]ven if Broward County’s lack of standing argument were preserved, it would be without merit.”

“Preemption laws prevent local jurisdictions from creating a patchwork of different regulations and a minefield of legal peril for individuals,” explained FPC’s Senior Director of Legal Operations, Adam Kraut. “Having dozens or hundreds of local municipalities with different laws regulating the carry of firearms would result in individuals having to become legal experts to avoid going to jail for accidentally violating a local ordinance. We are delighted to see common sense prevail and congratulate our friends at Florida Carry for this important victory.” 

FPC is currently involved in lawsuits challenging laws and policies under state preemption in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Michigan. We are pleased to see the Court affirm the trial court’s order enjoining the enforcement of these ordinances, which illegally prohibited conduct allowed under Florida state law.

Firearms Policy Coalition and its FPC Law team are the nation’s next-generation advocates for the right to keep and bear arms and adjacent liberties, actively litigating dozens of major lawsuits including federal Second Amendment challenges to California’s ban on “assault weapons” (Miller v. Becerra), Maryland’s ban on “assault weapons” (Bianchi v. Frosh), California’s handgun “roster” and self-manufacturing bans (Renna v. Becerra), Maryland’s firearm carry ban (Call v. Jones), New Jersey’s firearm carry ban (Bennett v. Davis), New York City’s firearms carry ban (Greco v. New York City), the federal ban on the sale of handguns and handgun ammunition by federal firearm licensees (FFLs) to adults under 21 years of age (Reese v. BATFE), and others, with dozens more cases being prepared. To follow these and other legal cases FPC is actively working on, visit the Legal Action section of FPC’s website or follow FPC on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.