We all know that Attorney General James Uthmeier isn’t playing around in Florida. When some locality decides it’s going to infringe on gun rights and thumb its nose at the state’s preemption law, he’s quick to let them know they need to adjust their attitude or they’re going to need their attorneys.
And in his latest fight, it sure didn’t take long.
Uthmeier warned Winter Garden that it lacked the authority to declare a park as a gun-free zone. Cam wrote about that Thursday morning. Now, the signs are gone.
The City of Winter Garden removed a sign banning guns from a city park this week after Florida’s attorney general threatened legal action, saying state law does not allow local governments to regulate firearms.
The sign had been at the Tucker Ranch Recreation and Nature Preserve since the park opened in 2018. Since then, no one has been cited, trespassed or arrested for bringing weapons into the park, city and police officials told the Orlando Sentinel.
It is not clear how Attorney General James Uthmeier, who aggressively champions gun rights, learned about the sign in the west Orange County city.
But in a letter dated Wednesday and posted to X, Uthmeier declared the sign “null and void,” and said the city had until Aug. 15 to confirm it had been removed. Similarly worded signage elsewhere, he added, “must also be revised accordingly.”
A city spokesperson said no other Winter Garden park had a similar sign.
Under Florida law, if the city failed to comply with Uthmeier’s demands, it could face fines and the firing or removal of officials who were involved in creating or enforcing the gun rule.
The spokesperson said Thursday that Winter Garden has not formally received Uthmeier’s letter, but officials quickly moved to take down the sign. A Sentinel photographer did not see any signs forbidding guns during a visit to the park on Thursday.
“The City of Winter Garden is aware of the sign referenced in Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s letter,” City Manager Jon Williams said in a statement. “The sign was removed as soon as the oversight was brought to our attention.”
I sincerely doubt it was an oversight. Someone somewhere decided to put that sign up, and I doubt it was some low-level employee who might be forgiven for being unaware of the state’s preemption law.
But they’re not going to admit to trying to pull a fast one, either. That would make it harder for them to try this again, maybe with a less conscientious attorney general in office who actually acts when someone tries to violate state law.
Of course, it could be that it’s been there for a while and no one in charge now was aware of it, which is unlikely but hypothetically possible.
Either way, it’s done. Winter Garden backed down, as they should have, and removed the offending sign promptly. In fact, I applaud them for doing so before they got the letter. While it wouldn’t have made much difference in the grand scheme of things, waiting for the letter to show up, when they knew they were in the wrong, would make it obvious this was someone’s idea of an act of defiance. Now, it’s cleared up and over.
It actually lends a little credence to the claim that it was an oversight. I still don’t buy it, but it’s why I won’t call the claims absolute BS.
All’s well that ends well.
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