News

By Henry Fitzgerald

Boca Raton has joined several other cities in a lawsuit filed against the state, fighting “super penalties” against municipalities and elected officials who push for local gun laws.
Council members at their April 10 meeting voted 4-1 to join the suit, which names Gov. Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi and other state officials.
The lawsuit, filed April 2 by the city of Weston in Broward County and nine others, challenges a 2011 state statute, backed by the gun lobby, that sets penalties such as a $5,000 fine and removal from office for elected officials who try to enact local gun laws.
Boca Raton isn’t seeking to immediately pass any gun laws, but since the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, wants the right to do so without state punishment.
“Our home-rule authority has been under attack, and this last legislative session was probably the most egregious attack on home rule for counties and cities that I’ve ever witnessed,” said Mayor Susan Haynie. “This particular statute with the super penalties is really over the top. I feel that the cities need to come together to have our voices heard and the state of Florida needs to stop preempting local laws.”
The lawsuit states that the Florida law is invalid and unconstitutional, and that the governor should not be able to remove an elected official for supporting or enacting local gun laws.
“I’d rather take a wait-and-see approach,” said council member Jeremy Rodgers, who cast the lone no vote, adding that the $10,000 fee to join the lawsuit isn’t fair to taxpayers. “This is going forward with or without us. I [can’t] support this at this time.”