Florida Supreme Court confirms that gun law is penalizing challengers

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida lawmakers can fine local government officials who attempt to restrict gun and ammunition sales under a state law upheld by the state Supreme Court on Thursday.

Nikki Fried (ex-Democratic Agriculture Commissioner) and certain municipalities sued the state over a law It preempts local governments from passing gun sales restrictions. But it’s too broad because it also calls to fines for elected officials who voted against restrictions.

However, justices of the conservative court disagreed with the decision in a 4-1 vote. They ruled that local officials are not exempt from paying the fines.

“It is not a core municipal function to occupy an area that the Legislature has preempted, and local governments have no lawful discretion or authority to enact ordinances that violate state preemption,” the court wrote.

The preemption law was revised in 2011 to include the penalty provisions — and later challenged by several local governments who wanted to enact gun safety measures in the wake of the 2018 Parkland high school shooting 17 people died in that incident. Fried, who was elected governor earlier in the month but lost, joined the suit later.

A $5,000 fine is prescribed for officials who willfully contravene the legislation. In his dissent, Justice Jorge Labarga said the punishment is “an impermissible judicial intrusion into the official’s legislative thought process, and it undermines the official’s ability to effectuate the constituents’ will.”