STATE v. CITY OF WESTON

No. 1D19-2819.

316 So.3d 398 (2021)

STATE of Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and FDLE Commissioner Richard L. Swearingen, Appellants, v. CITY OF WESTON, Florida; Dan Daley, in his official capacity as Commissioner of the City of Coral Springs, Florida; Broward County; et al., Appellees.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

Rehearing Denied May 17, 2021.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Ashley Moody , Attorney General, Amit Agarwal , Solicitor General, and James H. Percival , Deputy Solicitor General, Tallahassee, for Appellants State of Florida, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and FDLE Commissioner Richard Swearingen; Joe Jacquot , General Counsel, John MacIver , James W. Uthmeier , and Nicholas A. Primrose , Deputy General Counsel, Executive Office of the Governor, Tallahassee, for Appellant Governor Ron DeSantis.

Stephen P. Halbrook , Fairfax, VA, pro hac vice, for Amicus Curiae National Rifle Association of America, Inc., in support of Appellants.

Marc A. Nardone , James W. Porter , and John Parker Sweeney of Bradley, Arant, Boult, Cummings, LLP, Washington DC, pro hac vice, for Amicus Curiae National Rifle Association of America, Inc., in support of Appellants.

Eliot Peace of Bradley, Arant, Boult, Cummings, LLP, Tampa, for Amicus Curiae National Rifle Association of America, Inc., in support of Appellants.

Edward G. Guedes , Jamie A. Cole , and Adam M. Hapner of Weiss, Serota, Helfman, Cole & Bierman, P.L., Coral Gables, for City of Weston, et al. Andrew J. Meyers , County Attorney, René D. Harrod , Deputy County Attorney, Joseph K. Jarone , Claudia Capdesuner , and Nathaniel A. Klitsberg , Assistant County Attorneys, Broward County Attorney's Office, Fort Lauderdale, for Appellee Broward County. Abigail Price-Williams , County Attorney, Shanika A. Graves , Assistant County Attorney, Altanese P. Phenelus , Assistant County Attorney, and Angela Benjamin , Assistant County Attorney, Miami-Dade County Attorney's Office, Miami, for Appellee Miami Dade County. Herbert W.A. Thiele , County Attorney, and LaShawn D. Riggans , Deputy County Attorney, Leon County Attorney's Office, Tallahassee, for Appellee Leon County. Abigail G. Corbett and Veronica L. De Zayas of Stearns, Weaver, Miller, Weissler, Alhadeff & Sitterson, P.A., Miami, for Appellees City of Coral Gables and Mayor Raul Valdes-Fauli. Matthew Triggs and Matthew Rochman of Proskauer Rose, LLP, Boca Raton; Michael A. Cardozo and Chantel L. Febus of Proskauer Rose, LLP, New York, NY, pro hac vice, and Eric A. Tirschwell , Everytown Law, New York, NY, pro hac vice, for Appellees Dan Daley, Frank C. Ortis, Rebecca A. Tooley, Justin Flippen, City of Coral Springs, City of Pembroke Pines, City of Coconut Creek and City of Wilton Manors. Raul J. Aguila , City Attorney, and Aleksandr Boksner , Chief Deputy City Attorney, Miami Beach City Attorney's Office, Miami Beach, for Appellee City of Miami Beach. Clifford B. Shepard of Shepard, Smith, Kohlmyer & Hand, P.A., Maitland, for Appellee City of Maitland. Dexter W. Lehtinen and Claudio Riedi of Lehtinen Schultz, PLLC, Miami, for Appellee Village of Palmetto Bay. Jacqueline M. Kovilaritch , City Attorney, and Joseph P. Patner , Assistant City Attorney, St. Petersburg City Attorney's Office, St. Petersburg, for Appellee City of St. Petersburg. Steven Hall , General Counsel, and Genevieve Hall , Assistant General Counsel, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Tallahassee, for Appellee Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Kraig Conn , Florida League of Cities, Inc., Tallahassee, for Amici Curiae Florida League of Cities and Florida Association of Counties, in support of Appellees.

Brook Dooley , Anna Porto , and David J. Rosen of Keker & Van Ness, LLP, San Francisco, CA, pro hac vice, for Amici Curiae League of Women Voters of Florida, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Brady, Equality Florida Institute, Inc., in support of Appellees.

Kenneth J. Duvall , Ilana A. Drescher , and Philip R. Stein of Bilzin, Sumberg, Baena, Price & Axelrod, LLP, Miami, for Amici Curiae League of Women Voters of Florida, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Brady, and Equality Florida Institute, Inc., and for Amicus Curiae Local Government Law Professors, in support of Appellees.

Michael P. Spellman of Sniffen & Spellman, P.A., Tallahassee, for Amici Curiae Florida League of Cities and Florida Association of Counties, in support of Appellees.

Laura Youmans and Edward G. Labrador , Florida Association of Counties, Tallahassee, for Amici Curiae Florida League of Cities and Florida Association of Counties, in support of Appellees.


The trial court invalidated Florida's statutory penalties against local governments, local officials, and agency heads for violating the Florida Legislature's total preemption of firearm and ammunition regulation. We find the challenged statutes valid and enforceable, and we reverse.

I. Governing Statutes.

A. Preemption...

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