Broward sues over penalties

Broward County filed suit against Gov. Rick Scott and other Florida officials this week over a state law that imposes steep penalties on local officials who try to adopt their own gun regulations.

The county suit does not directly challenge the state’s ability to limit the ability of local governments to pass gun measures, but it questions the constitutionality of the penalties that discourage local officials from passing even those gun laws that should be within their rights.

The penalties — which include removal from office by the governor and personal fines of up to $5,000, and which open officials up to potential lawsuits seeking monetary damages in excess of $100,000 — are “intended to deter and chill local government officials from taking any action in the area of firearms and ammunition, even action that the officials believe in good faith is or should be permissible,” the suit says.

Besides asking the court to declare the penalties unconstitutional, the suit filed in Leon County Circuit Court in Tallahassee also asks the court to declare that the county has the right to:

Regulate large-capacity magazines, bump stocks and other gun-related items that are “not inherent” to an initial gun purchase;

Restrict firearms, ammunition and gun shows from county-owned or county-operated facilities and locations;

Preclude even the permissible carrying of concealed weapons from polling places, career centers, and any place of “nuisance” such as bars;

Require records be kept on the sale of any firearm in the county, as well as on any gun sales from licensed importers, manufacturers and dealers delivered from their inventories to another person;

Retain its current five-day waiting period and criminal history records check requirement for any gun sale taking place in the county, and also require that the criminal history check be completed before the final purchase, regardless of where the sale takes place, which would close the gunshow loophole.

The suit names Scott because the law gives him the power to remove from office or fire officials who violate it. It also names Attorney General Pam Bondi, Agriculture and Consumers Services Commissioner Adam Putnam, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Rick Swearingen, Auditor General Sherrill Norman and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis.

Each of the defendants has a role in enforcing portions of the penalties identified in the 2011 state gun law or collecting the fines that would be levied against local officials, the suit said.

The law suit is separate from one joined by at least 13 South Florida cities that are seeking broader powers to regulate firearms locally without paying fines or having their elected officials removed from office.

The push for action came following the Feb. 14 shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland that left 17 dead and 17 wounded.

lbarszewski@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4556 or Twitter @lbarszewski