Some government officials use a crisis to push the envelope on their authority.
But one Florida cop decided to take things too far.
And a Florida police department was busted using the hurricane for this awful scheme.
Florida police used the hurricane to suspend the Second Amendment
Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend Region on the Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm.
Florida is the most prepared state in the country for managing a hurricane.
But one city in the state decided to go after the Constitution in its storm preparation.
Okeechobee, Florida used the state of emergency for Helene to issue an illegal city ordinance that banned the sale of guns and ammunition.
And it banned the possession of a firearm in a public place for anyone other than law enforcement or active duty military.
The ordinance was supposed to last about 24 hours, but it claimed it could have been extended based on the conditions created by the storm.
“Paper is to rock as hurricane is to the Second Amendment.” — Okeechobee Chief of Police pic.twitter.com/p34FZ9FIl8
— Bryan LaFonte (@bryanlafonte) September 29, 2024
Okeechobee Police Chief Donald Hagan signed off on the order after it was passed by the city council.
The city of about 5,000 residents sits on the north of Lake Okeechobee.
Okeechobee County gave Florida Governor Ron DeSantis more than 80% of the vote in his 2022 re-election race.
Outrage poured in after police tried to shut down the Second Amendment
Images of Okeechobee’s gun ban went viral on social media, which put the ordinance on the radar of gun rights groups and the Governor’s office.
Once DeSantis’ office got wind of this order, they were told it rescind it.
The order lasted about 12 hours before the plug was pulled.
Okeechobee Police Department spokesman Jarret Romanello claimed that he was told that the illegal order needed to be included to declare a local state of emergency for the hurricane.
The city claimed that “a provision prohibiting the sale of firearms and ammunition was inadvertently included in the Emergency Ordinance. Upon discovering this, the City and Police Chief acted expeditiously to terminate the Emergency Ordinance.”
Romanello claimed that the ordinance was never enforced.
It was all a big mistake but not one that caused anyone in power in Okeechobee to step up and stop it.
Gun Owners of America Florida state director Luis Valdes said that even though the illegal order was rescinded it still raised serious concerns.
“It’s still a Second Amendment issue. It’s the whole thing of the canary in the coal mine,” Valdes said. “This happened, this is important and we are a no-compromise national gun-rights organization. That is our entire stance, and we wanted to get to the bottom of this and make sure this never happens again because, as the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
Valdes told the Okeechobee City Council at a meeting that under Florida law, a fine of $5,000 could be assessed to government officials who subvert the Second Amendment.
Okeechobee Mayor Dowling Watford claimed that the mistake would not be repeated.
“I hope you realize that we realize that we made a bad mistake, and we will correct that in the future, I promise you,” Watford said. “That will not happen again, I promise you that.”
Even in the reddest of areas in red states, government officials can still try to trample citizen’s constitutional rights.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
