Local Officials adopted an ordinance shortly before the hurricane made landfall last week to ban gun and ammo sales for a 24-hour period.
The City of Okeechobee, Florida adopted an illegal ordinance shortly before Hurricane Helene made landfall last week, which banned the sale of guns and ammunition and prohibited firearm possession in public by anyone other than law enforcement or members of the military.
Donald C. Hagan, the Chief of the Okeechobee Police Department, signed the illegal ordinance, copies of which quickly made ways around the internet.
The notice references Florida Statute 870.044, however, the police chief’s order was based on the Okeechobee City Council’s adoption of City Ordinance 1297, which the city admits contained a “provision prohibiting the sale of firearms and ammunition” that was “inadvertently included” in the text of the ordinance, which does violate the state’s firearm preemption law.
Additionally, the Florida statute states the order could be made in the aftermath of a hurricane when there’s widespread looting or rioting, not preemptively.
Once Governor Ron DeSantis was informed of this order, directions were sent immediately to the Okeechobee Police Department to rescind the order.
Read more at Bearing Arms.
