SEBASTIAN — The Sebastian City Council has made the changes it had to make under a new state law that goes into effect in October – but they’re not happy about it, saying the state has gone too far in its language.
“We don’t have a choice folks, and neither do you,” said Councilwoman Andrea Coy of approving changes to the city’s firearms and ammunition ordinance to comply with state law. “That’s what really bothers me.”
If the city, or any other local government, were to not make the changes needed to comply with the state law by Oct. 1, individual city or county elected officials could be removed from office or fined.
“I fully support the right to bear arms,” Coy said. “I object to the loss of home rule” and the state’s language.
Rep. Tom Goodson (R-Dist. 29) told VeroNews.com that the City of Sebastian has “great local leaders” and should have local rule, but other cities in the state don’t have as strong leadership, which leads to the State stepping in.
He said, in this case, the State needed to make it clear to all local governments that the State has the authority to regulate firearms and ammunition.
“Because some local governments were intentionally disregarding the state preemption of firearms regulation, the Legislature had to put teeth into the law,” Sen. Joe Negron (R-Dist. 28) wrote in an email to VeroNews.com. “Law abiding citizens must have their Second Amendment rights protected. There cannot be a patchwork of inconsistent firearms laws in Florida, which could ensnare citizens who had no intent to break the law.”
Two changes had to be made to the City of Sebastian’s ordinance – remove the word “shoot” from one section and eliminate altogether a section about discharging firearms.
The city’s ordinance declares the whole city a bird and wildlife sanctuary, making it unlawful to trap birds and fur-bearing animals within the city. One change to the ordinance is to remove “shoot” from the list of ways to kill or otherwise destroy an animal.
Coy told the audience at the last Sebastian City Council meeting that what the city needed to repeal from its rules would be covered under the state’s rule.
“We’re going to be OK,” she said.