Florida city takes harsh action against gun rights amid Hurricane Helene devastation

OKEECHOBEE, FL - A Florida city is drawing criticism from Second Amendment supporters with a heavy-handed and quickly timed measure aimed to clamp down on gun sales and possession in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

The city of Okeechobee attempted to ban the sale of any and all firearms and ammunition between September 26 and September 27, according to Shooting News Weekly.  Donald Hagan, the city's chief of police, attempted to enact the ban on the basis of Florida's state of emergency statues. The act also would have prohibited the possession of a firearm in a public place by anyone not affiliated with law enforcement or the United States military.

Officials of Gov. Ron DeSantis's administration directed the city to rescind the order as soon as they learned of its existence, according to the Firearms Policy Coalition.

Florida Carry had sent a letter to the city of Okeechobee regarding the measure, warning the city that its actions were in legal violation of Florida statue reserving the powers to regulate gun law to the Florida legislature. Under Florida law, Chief Hagan could've been found liable for a $5,000 fine- which he would have to pay personally- for usurping authority over the regulation of firearms in the state, according to the letter, obtained by Armed American News.

It seems the sharp backlash that met the measure quickly led to the gun ban's termination by the city of Okeechobee.

“This is something that was mistakenly enacted," Det. Jarret Romanello, Public Information Officer for the Okeechobee City Police Department told Florida WPEC of the temporary ban on Monday.

"Once we learned that the emergency order was not the order that we intended to declare, we immediately terminated it."

Romanello went on to assert that the city of Okeechobee did nothing to implement the widely criticized gun ban.
 

“At no time did any Okeechobee City Police Department officers take any enforcement action pursuant to the declaration. No guns were seized. No businesses were approached or told to take down their firearms. We very much support our Second Amendment."

The spokesman revealed that Hagan had fled the Okeechobee Police Department's headquarters in fear of criticism from supporters of the Second Amendment.

“He’s not here today because he was subject to personal attacks all day from all over this country. Most of the noise is coming from people that live outside the city of Okeechobee.”

American law enforcement and state officials have sought to crack down on the possession of firearms recognized as a right of American citizens under the Constitution during times of natural disaster before. New Orleans Police Department officers sought to confiscate privately owned firearms from locals in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, according to the New York Times.