Stop gun shows, official asks city

Commissioner wants events banned at War Memorial Auditorium

FORT LAUDERDALE — A month after a shooter killed five people at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, the gun shows at the city’s War Memorial Auditorium have come under renewed attack.

Commissioner Dean Trantalis asked Tuesday for the city to ban the leasing of the auditorium in Holiday Park to gun shows, which have been a staple there for more than 30 years.

“I think the incident at our airport brings closer to home how important it is to try to minimize the implements of violence that seem to permeate our society,” Trantalis said. “One of the things we can do is to recognize how we as a city can limit the availability of weaponry.”

Trantalis said he wasn’t challenging gun ownership, but said a park where children play is “an inappropriate location for the city to be hosting gun shows.”

Commissioners were sympathetic to the desire to curb gun violence, but said eliminating gun shows at the auditorium wasn’t the solution.

Mayor Jack Seiler said operators of the Fort Lauderdale Florida Gun Show, formerly the Suncoast Gun Show, already take extra precautions because of past city concerns. That includes requiring all sellers to be licensed and having increased security patrols, he said.

“They voluntarily impose stricter requirements,” Seiler said. “They’ve cooperated with law enforcement with every single request over the years.” Critics said the city shouldn’t meddle. “To ban gun shows, in my opinion, would be censorship,” resident Dennis Ulmer said. The operators, Florida Gun Shows of Florida, hold eight gun shows a year at the auditorium.

Last year, Trantalis sought to ban the sale of assault-style rifles such as the AR-15 and AK-47 at the shows. His move came right after the shootings at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub where 49 people were killed.

There also was an effort to stop leasing space to the gun show after the 2012 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

But a state law limits the regulation of the sale and purchase of guns to state government, not cities. The law says commissioners can be held personally liable for damages, and the governor can remove them from office if they violate it.

Trantalis doesn’t see his proposal as regulating gun sales, but as simply creating a city lease stipulation for property it rents out to others.

City Attorney Cynthia Everett last year warned commissioners that stopping the gun show from having assault-style weapons probably would violate the state prohibition.

While commissioners said they are reluctant to impose a leasing ban, they asked Everett to research if the city can legally impose any lease restrictions that are related to the sale of guns.

Resident Bonnie Gross wants the gun shows gone.

“I’m disturbed by the fact that my city generates revenue by hosting gun shows eight times a year,” Gross said. “You’re choosing what kind of message you want to send about the city of Fort Lauderdale.”