A.G. Gancarski
As City Council members probe allegations surrounding an “illegal gun registry” at Jacksonville City Hall, the Mayor’s Office is declining to speak after being asked to appear voluntarily.
And subpoenas could be coming next.
What is known: There has been a requirement since 2023 for people carrying guns into Jacksonville’s public buildings to put their names, addresses and identifying information on what critics are dubbing a gun registry.
What isn’t known fully: who was responsible for said registry, and why it went on so long.
The Mayor’s Office isn’t saying much, but the facts are coming out nonetheless. And City Council members want to probe it internally.
The City Council Rules Committee explored that question. The General Counsel talked to legislators about the registry, which allegedly was maintained for nearly two years at both City Hall and the Yates Building by First Coast Security.
Republican critics of the list documenting those carrying guns say it violates state law. The effort was supposedly overseen by a private security company contracted by the city after July 1, 2023. That was the date when Mayor Donna Deegan took office.
Rules Chair Nick Howland cited Florida Statutes 790.335, which bans registries, noting these actions could lead to a third degree felony and a $5 million fine.
General Counsel Michael Fackler noted potential “serious consequences” for breach of the law, and said the Mayor’s Office was made aware of the issue on April 21 of this year.
A day later, subpoenas were served on the city’s outside counsel at the Bedell Firm that is working on behalf of defending the Mayor’s Office’s position. Fackler believes it is an investigative subpoena, rather than a grand jury product. Presumably his father-in-law Hank Coxe, who works for the firm, could tell him for sure.
Outside counsel was hired, said Fackler, because criminal lawyers were needed for “the full panoply” of possibilities, including potential state charges.
“There are potentially significant sanctions as a result of the investigation,” he said.
Matt Carlucci wondered if the “tough little Mayor” was “guilty” and if Deegan initiated the registry; Fackler noted the investigation is “ongoing.”
“I don’t get the feeling that this is something she blindly went into to enforce,” he said. “I had a feeling there was no guilt yet because the due process of law hasn’t been exercised yet.”
He believes it’s “extremely unfair” that people say Deegan is guilty, because she hasn’t “had a chance to prove her innocence,” and urged people to be “careful” before blaming her for a practice underway for nearly two years since her inauguration.
Ron Salem was less credulous, saying the city charter allows for Council subpoenas, punishable by fines and investigations, a salient fact given that the Mayor’s Office did not voluntarily attend the meeting.
“We clearly have the ability to investigate this,” Salem said, likening it to the JEA sale attempt that was probed half a decade ago.
Fackler, who has been at odds with legislators since soon after they confirmed him in 2023, urged the City Council not to investigate the issue.
Jimmy Peluso said he was disappointed that Howland talked to the media, saying a “shade” meeting was more appropriate. He noted that in July 2023, a shade meeting was held to discuss the permitless carry law that went into effect at the beginning of that month and “what this government was going to do” about “the security plan.”
“It’s not a gun registry. It’s just not,” said the strong ally of the executive branch, who claimed no one objected to the list of gun owners back then.
“We learned about it in 2023 and none of you said anything. This is how I know it’s a total sham,” Peluso said.
“I’d caution us to be careful about who knew what when,” Fackler said, given the statute and the opening for “criminal or civil liability” if people spoke about this on the public record.
Citizens had their say as well.
Lawyer Eric Friday, the General Counsel of Florida Carry who is known for his staunch defense of the Second Amendment, was one of several citizens who criticized the list of lawful gun owners exercising their permitless carry rights.
He urged a “full and complete” probe by the State Attorney, and wants the City Council to crack down on the “felonious conduct” that abridged citizens’ rights to attend public meetings and enter public buildings without putting their names on a list.
Attorney General James Uthmeier and former Mayor Lenny Curry have spoken out against the alleged list making.
The Mayor has said the “policy in question was created and written before Mayor Deegan took office.”
9 comments
Steven Wiles
May 5, 2025 at 4:39 pm
If only people showed the same “outrage” about $10 million funneled through the Florida first lady’s charity straight into political campaigns. James Uthmeier is as dirty as they come in this conspiracy.
Rich7553
May 6, 2025 at 10:26 am
So, your response is whataboutism rather than refuting the allegation. Got it.
MH/Duuuval
May 6, 2025 at 7:31 pm
FACT: Gun injuries are the number one cause of death for children and teens in America, surpassing car crashes and cancer for the first time in two decades. Nearly seven U.S. kids aged between 1 and 17 died per day from gun injuries in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available.
Seven kids per day — happy, Rich?
Rich7553
May 6, 2025 at 10:47 am
The Mayor has said the “policy in question was created and written before Mayor Deegan took office.”
Of course. I have no doubt the policy was created and written by gun control organizations long ago, and has been awaiting some sucker in government to implement it. And we now know Deegan or someone in her charge was that sucker. This is reminiscent of the poor Aurora parents who were suckered into suing Lucky Gunner by the Brady Center. After losing the suit, they were abandoned by Brady and forced to pay the legal bills and had to file for bankruptcy. Whichever gun control organization that actually wrote and created that policy is in the clear, and Jax taxpayers are left holding the bag. Deegan’s administration is just the latest gun control sucker to be exploited and abandoned.
MH/Duuuval
May 6, 2025 at 1:29 pm
Nothing worse than whataboutism — except recycling ancient, unfounded rumors taken from obscure bloggers, like this one:
July 2015 – A Geek With Guns
christopherburg.com
Jul 31, 2015 — “After the shooting in Aurora, Colorado the Brady Campaign found a family to sucker … in my view to do everything we can to help poor people… .”
MH/Duuuval
May 6, 2025 at 1:47 pm
Lucky Gunner, the defendant in the above case, was found responsible in 2024 for 20 percent of a similar tragedy in New Mexico. (Venue matters.)
BTW: Lucky Gunner will deliver ammo to your doorstep. Wonder if Real ID is required?
MH/Duuuval
May 6, 2025 at 1:54 pm
From Wiki: “In 2014, the parent and step-parent of one of the 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting victims, represented by Brady Center lawyers, filed suit against the companies from whom James Holmes purchased the ammunition, magazines, and body armor he used in the shooting. In 2015, the judge in the case dismissed the suit on the grounds that such a lawsuit is in violation of both Colorado law and the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act because the guns and ammunition obtained from the online companies, including Lucky Gunner and The Sportsman’s Guide, worked as claimed. He also ordered the plaintiffs to pay the legal costs of the defendants, which came to $280,000. As the Brady Center lawyers would be expected to know applicable case law in such a lawsuit, it is not clear whether the Brady Center or the plaintiffs themselves are responsible for paying the judgment.”
In other words, unlike nearly every other manufactured product used by Americans, gun and ammo businesses have no responsibility for what happens after their products are sold — except in Connecticut.
MH/Duuuval
May 6, 2025 at 1:55 pm
The guns and ammo are immune in this case because they “worked as advertised.”
Nice.
JD
May 6, 2025 at 7:47 pm
As far as I’ve read on this and understand it, Florida law (Statute 790.335) makes it illegal for any government entity to create a registry of firearms or gun owners. But that does not automatically mean the mayor is complicit.
From what has been reported, the policy was already in place before Mayor Deegan took office. Her administration says they stopped it as soon as they were made aware of it in April 2025. They are also cooperating fully with the investigation. Unless there is direct evidence that she knew about it and allowed it to continue, the responsibility likely falls on whoever set it up or kept it going. That could be the private security firm or staff from the previous administration.
Subpoenas will get to the bottom of it. Blaming her without facts just does not hold up. All the right-tards want to find something on her because she won and stands up to them. We will all see, but this would be like getting Capone on Tax evasion. It’s little and petty… because they are petty. How about this what-about-ism – How much did the GOP spend putting bullet proof glass into the capital buildings at tax payer expense?
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