The City of Jacksonville may have created an illegal gun registry.
That’s the claim of a prominent Republican city council member.
Only Action News Jax spoke with Councilman Nick Howland (R-Group 3 At-Large), who broke down what he’s learned about the alleged list of gun owners who have entered at least two city buildings.
Since July 1st, 2023, state law has prevented local governments from prohibiting legal gun owners from carrying concealed in government buildings.
It’s the same day Mayor Donna Deegan officially came into office.
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But Howland told Action News Jax he’s learned that same month, private security guards working the entrance of two city buildings allegedly began keeping a list of people who entered with firearms.
He claimed those alleged lists were kept at both City Hall and the Yates Building, which houses the Tax Collector and Property Appraiser’s Offices.
“They were asked to document their first name, last name, contact information and the type of firearm they were carrying,” said Howland.
Florida law prohibits the creation of lists of gun owners.
Violations by local governments come with a civil penalty of up to $5 million and individuals who violate the law could be charged with a 3rd degree felony.
“In those notebooks for two years, that info has been gathered. Florida is a no-registry state. So, that is a clear violation of state law,” said Howland.
Howland claimed the State Attorney’s Office is investigating, but the State Attorney’s Office told us it cannot confirm whether an investigation has been opened.
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Action News Jax reached out to the Mayor’s Office requesting a copy of the alleged lists.
The Mayor’s Office didn’t directly deny their existence, but told us, “A document responsive to this request is not in the City of Jacksonville’s possession.”
We followed up asking if the mayor’s office could confirm whether a document responsive to our request had been given to the State Attorney’s Office.
“The City of Jacksonville has received and complied with a subpoena from the State Attorney’s Office,” a spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office replied. “Out of respect and in full cooperation with their review, we won’t be commenting further at this time.”
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Howland argued that, given the potential consequences if an illegal gun registry was created, it’s imperative the individual who gave the original order be identified.
“It is interesting that this registry starts being kept the same month that this administration has started office, but it’s not up to me to determine who has given the directive. It’s up to the State Attorney,” said Howland.
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According to Howland, the city has retained the Bedell Firm to represent it in handling this matter.
Action News Jax reached out to the Bedell firm to confirm that claim but hasn’t heard back.
We’ve also submitted a public records request to the State Attorney’s Office seeking copies of the alleged lists.
That request is pending.
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