Florida HOA Drops Carry Ban in Common Areas After Attorney General’s Actions

The Tradition Community Association, which serves as the HOA for the massive planned community in Port St. Lucie known as Tradition, has formally rescinded a rule prohibiting lawful carry in common areas of the development. 

Tradition is home to nearly 10,000 people, but both residents and visitors were barred from carrying on the miles of trails, retail shopping spaces, and even dog parks after TCA adopted a policy several months ago prohibiting the practice. 

Many homeowners said the ban caught them off guard, and had no idea the association had adopted the rule until they received letters in the mail informing them of the change. The Port St. Lucie police chief responded to the news by telling local media that officers would not be enforcing the ban, since it was a HOA rule and not a criminal offense, but it wasn’t until Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier stepped in that the HOA decided to repeal the rule entirely. 

Last night, Tradition Community Association did the right thing and permanently repealed its blanket firearms ban.

Those who choose to conceal carry for lawful, defensive purposes are protected by Florida law, and we will use this office to defend those protections. https://t.co/VOiSWhjz5m pic.twitter.com/LzPmbovtx1

— Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) June 11, 2026

While private property owners can generally prohibit firearms on their property, Uthmeier informed TCA last month that its rule ran afoul of Florida law. In a letter to the association, Uthmeier pointed to Section 790.251(4)(e) of the Florida statutes, which says in part, that “No public or private employer may terminate the employment of or otherwise discriminate against an employee, or expel a customer or invitee for exercising his or her constitutional right to keep and bear arms.” 

The Attorney General pointed out that the Tradition Community Association is a private employer, so its employees would be covered under the statute. And he argued anyone visiting those common areas is an “invitee” who “cannot be expelled for exercising their right to keep and bear arms.”

There’s enough ambiguity in the Florida statute that Traditions Community Association could have attempted to defend the carry ban in court if it wanted to, but it would have resulted in an expensive legal fight with no guarantee of coming out on the winning side. Uthmeier’s threat of legal action, and perhaps the blowback TCA had received from many residents as well, was apparently enough to convince the association that it wasn’t worth the trouble to try to keep the prohibition in place. 

I’m glad to see TCA has dropped its carry ban without residents having to sue to regain their Second Amendment rights, though it never should have been put in place to begin with. This will hopefully serve as a warning to other planned communities that may be weighing similar bans of their own. Uthmeier says his office is ready to intervene if there are any other HOAs across the state who’ve also decided to prohibit concealed carry on their property, and I have no doubt he means what he says. 

The Attorney General has been an outstanding defender of the Second Amendment in the Sunshine State. He’s used his office to end Florida’s ban on open carry, go after Jacksonville for its illegal registry of gun owners who visited City Hall, and most recently sided with the plaintiffs who’d sued over the state’s waiting period law on gun purchases, agreeing that the state-imposed delays violate our right to keep and bear arms. It’d be nice if every AG across the country was as stalwart in their support of the Second Amendment as Uthmeier has been, but at least he’s providing an example for other pro-2A attorneys general to follow. 

Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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