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Member
PSL not pulling trigger on law
By CHRIS YOUNG
[email protected]
June 3, 2006
PORT ST. LUCIE — City police are no longer enforcing an ordinance prohibiting people from discharging firearms within the city limits.
Because the ordinance appears to conflict with state law, City Attorney Roger Orr placed a moratorium on enforcement last month, after a woman threatened a lawsuit over being arrested for firing a BB gun in her backyard.
Florida law appears to take away a city legal tool "that would prevent people from shooting up their neighborhoods," Orr said Friday.
The city ordinance, passed in 1975, allowed police to arrest anyone discharging a firearm or other weapon unless it was in self-defense.
Police now are researching state laws for other ways to make those arrests, said police spokesman Robert Vega.
"Although we're very frustrated we can't use the city ordinance, there are other tools in the chest we can use to make an arrest at the scene," Vega said.
The moratorium had a practical effect Thursday night when police were called to the 2400 block of Southeast Stonecrop Street, where two brothers had fired a semiautomatic rifle at trees in their backyard.
According to a police report, the officer didn't arrest them because of the moratorium, but confiscated several weapons, including the rifle, which fires the same caliber round as an AK-47. Vega said police forwarded the case to the state attorney's office for possible future action.
Orr ordered the moratorium after Leda Foreman, 46, threatened to sue the city over her arrest in November for shooting a BB gun at a target in her backyard. The charges were dropped in February.
Foreman's lawyer said the city ordinance was unconstitutional because it conflicted with state law, which allows for "a person firing weapons for testing or target practice under safe conditions and in a safe place."
Orr said "it appears to be the case" the city ordinance was preempted by state statute. The state Legislature has declared it "is occupying the whole field of regulation of firearms and ammunition."
Orr said he is considering bringing an amended ordinance to the City Council at a later date.
Vice Mayor Patricia Christensen said she wanted the city's legal department to see if the city's noise ordinance could be strengthened to deter people from firing weapons.
"I hope this doesn't open up (situations) to where anyone with a gun can fire on trees or wildlife in their back yard, taking target practice," she said. "At the same time, I don't want an ordinance that can be challenged legally."
Conflicting gun laws
Port St. Lucie's ordinance on the discharge of weapons appears to conflict with state law:
City ordinance: "(I)t shall be unlawful for any person to discharge any gun, firearm, crossbow, or air or spring gun launching a projectile within the city limits, except in self-defense, in case of imminent danger."
State law: "(T)he Legislature hereby declares that it is occupying the whole field of regulation of firearms and ammunition ... to the exclusion of all existing and future county, city, town, or municipal ordinances or regulations relating thereto."
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/local_news/article/0,2545,TCP_16736_4746077,00.html
By CHRIS YOUNG
[email protected]
June 3, 2006
PORT ST. LUCIE — City police are no longer enforcing an ordinance prohibiting people from discharging firearms within the city limits.
Because the ordinance appears to conflict with state law, City Attorney Roger Orr placed a moratorium on enforcement last month, after a woman threatened a lawsuit over being arrested for firing a BB gun in her backyard.
Florida law appears to take away a city legal tool "that would prevent people from shooting up their neighborhoods," Orr said Friday.
The city ordinance, passed in 1975, allowed police to arrest anyone discharging a firearm or other weapon unless it was in self-defense.
Police now are researching state laws for other ways to make those arrests, said police spokesman Robert Vega.
"Although we're very frustrated we can't use the city ordinance, there are other tools in the chest we can use to make an arrest at the scene," Vega said.
The moratorium had a practical effect Thursday night when police were called to the 2400 block of Southeast Stonecrop Street, where two brothers had fired a semiautomatic rifle at trees in their backyard.
According to a police report, the officer didn't arrest them because of the moratorium, but confiscated several weapons, including the rifle, which fires the same caliber round as an AK-47. Vega said police forwarded the case to the state attorney's office for possible future action.
Orr ordered the moratorium after Leda Foreman, 46, threatened to sue the city over her arrest in November for shooting a BB gun at a target in her backyard. The charges were dropped in February.
Foreman's lawyer said the city ordinance was unconstitutional because it conflicted with state law, which allows for "a person firing weapons for testing or target practice under safe conditions and in a safe place."
Orr said "it appears to be the case" the city ordinance was preempted by state statute. The state Legislature has declared it "is occupying the whole field of regulation of firearms and ammunition."
Orr said he is considering bringing an amended ordinance to the City Council at a later date.
Vice Mayor Patricia Christensen said she wanted the city's legal department to see if the city's noise ordinance could be strengthened to deter people from firing weapons.
"I hope this doesn't open up (situations) to where anyone with a gun can fire on trees or wildlife in their back yard, taking target practice," she said. "At the same time, I don't want an ordinance that can be challenged legally."
Conflicting gun laws
Port St. Lucie's ordinance on the discharge of weapons appears to conflict with state law:
City ordinance: "(I)t shall be unlawful for any person to discharge any gun, firearm, crossbow, or air or spring gun launching a projectile within the city limits, except in self-defense, in case of imminent danger."
State law: "(T)he Legislature hereby declares that it is occupying the whole field of regulation of firearms and ammunition ... to the exclusion of all existing and future county, city, town, or municipal ordinances or regulations relating thereto."
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/local_news/article/0,2545,TCP_16736_4746077,00.html