Florida disarms its citizens when a state of emergency is declared

Status
Not open for further replies.

lacoochee

Member
Joined
May 20, 2006
Messages
690
Location
San Antonio, FL
So if you go to get ice or supplies and your attacked, no defending yourself. Your concealed carry license has no meaning during an emergency. You have to love politicians....

870.044 Automatic emergency measures.--Whenever the public official declares that a state of emergency exists, pursuant to s. 870.043, the following acts shall be prohibited during the period of said emergency throughout the jurisdiction:

(1) The sale of, or offer to sell, with or without consideration, any ammunition or gun or other firearm of any size or description.

(2) The intentional display, after the emergency is declared, by or in any store or shop of any ammunition or gun or other firearm of any size or description.

(3) The intentional possession in a public place of a firearm by any person, except a duly authorized law enforcement official or person in military service acting in the official performance of her or his duty.

Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to authorize the seizure, taking, or confiscation of firearms that are lawfully possessed, unless a person is engaged in a criminal act.

The last piece means that they can't come to your home and take them, how nice of them....
 
While I certainly don't condone or agree with the law, I would make sure I had everything I needed at home before an emergency struck.
 
I would make sure I had everything I needed at home before an emergency struck.

That works great when the emergency is kind enough to pencil itself into your calendar, but sometimes these things sneak up on us. While it is a worthy goal to try to be fully prepared, it can be a hard one to maintain on a day to day.
 
I believe the law was already there...Is was Ammended this past session to avoid what happened in New Orleans, so your firearms CANNOT be siezed...


House Bill 285 (Ch. 2006-100): Governor; Emergency Management; Firearms; State of Emergency; Counties/Municipalities
Amends the emergency management powers of the Governor under F.S. 252.36 and local government emergency measures in F.S. 870.044 to prohibit the seizure, taking, or confiscation of lawfully possessed firearms during an emergency unless a person possessing the firearm is engaged in a criminal act. Effective Date: June 7, 2006.


Make sure you have your bag of ice before the Sh*&^ hits the fan...That would be the prudent thing to do....:p
 
I agree...a great example is the tornado's that struck Florida a few days ago. I saw a sign online that said "occupied and armed" or something to that effect. Those folks would not be allowed to go to the store for supplies without their gun (assuming they are legal CCW to begin with). States of emergency is where anarchy will surface, like we saw in New Orleans after Katrina. That's where a legal CCW is needed most.
 
I can see it now, the conversation,

"What? what do you mean you can't sell me ammunition, my house has been looted once already, and'll probably get hit again?"

Ick.
 
Scarier than any of that, what if you're at work, or out running errands when a catastrophe hit (okay, okay, I can't think of anything that sudden that would happen in Florida, but if it were here in California, I'd say "Earthquake"), and you find yourself legally packing, trying to GET home? So you're a criminal because of your usually-legal habits until you get home? Excuse me, but that's completely stupid.
 
Here ya go Ranger...


http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0870/SEC044.HTM&Title=->2006->Ch0870->Section%20044



Hope it comes out ok....
 
That is hilarious, they cannot legaly sell ammunition either. So even if they amended the firearm seizure aspect of the law, your still limited to the ammo on hand, and even a neighbor selling you some would be breaking the law.

So Katrina was considered an Emergency for how long? A person might legaly be denied the ability to purchase new ammo for months.

State of Emergency seems to also be a new political ploy for federal funding used for everything now. I mean CA just declared one because it got a little too cold and froze many of the agricultural crops putting that market in trouble. Yet is that really a state of emergency or just a quick "toss money at us to fix a problem" ploy?
Big fires created a "state of emergency" and more and more things are being considered "state of emergencies" for financial funding rather than any real danger. So legislation regarding "state of emergencies" should be removed altogether. Or maybe we need a graded state of emergency system where a certain number or color means a real threat that warrants full scale suspension of rights, and another that just justifies funding or minimal rights invasions... :scrutiny: Kinda like the terror alert color system.
 
Well, it appears since carrying the weapon is itself a "criminal act" they can seize it if you are out in a "public place".

Does it say what the penalty for committing one of those "prohibited acts" is?

It seems as far as carry goes all they can do is seize the gun and not even send you home, there's no criminal penalty (written citation, misdemeanor, etc) apparently attached. I assume it is in another part of the statute?
 
CareBear, you bring up a real good point...I do not see it in 870.044 proper..Perhaps in "Emergency Section" in 870.043 and I just put it away....If the above link works you could see if its there....
 
That works great when the emergency is kind enough to pencil itself into your calendar, but sometimes these things sneak up on us. While it is a worthy goal to try to be fully prepared, it can be a hard one to maintain on a day to day.

"Be Prepared" isn't just for the Boy Scouts. Get caught unprepared it could be the difference between living and dying.

Buy a half a dozen 50 cal ammo cans, fill them with ammo, close them up and put them in the back of the closet and forget about them till you need them. Same goes for water and food except that needs to be cycled at certain intervals. I live in a small house and rarely have less than 5k rounds of ammo. I keep 30 gallons of water, treated with bleach that I cycle once every few months. I keep a large pantry filled with the kind of food that keeps well and I cycle that every six months. Keep lots of batteries, flashlights, an emergency radio, try not to let any vehicles drop below half a tank of gas and keep a fully stocked bug out bag for each family member. I also keep a full kit in my designated bug out vehicle, water, dry food, blankets, tiny stove and pots, tarps, etc, etc. It takes up surprisingly little space.

Really, it's not that hard. Once you get the mind set and get started it's easy. But it's your life, be as prepared as you feel is necessary, just don't come around looking for my supplies if an emergency hits.
 
Read the whole thing:
870.044 Automatic emergency measures.--Whenever the public official declares that a state of emergency exists, pursuant to s. 870.043, the following acts shall be prohibited during the period of said emergency throughout the jurisdiction...

870.043 Declaration of emergency.--Whenever the sheriff or designated city official determines that there has been an act of violence or a flagrant and substantial defiance of, or resistance to, a lawful exercise of public authority and that, on account thereof, there is reason to believe that there exists a clear and present danger of a riot or other general public disorder, widespread disobedience of the law, and substantial injury to persons or to property, all of which constitute an imminent threat to public peace or order and to the general welfare of the jurisdiction affected or a part or parts thereof, he or she may declare that a state of emergency exists within that jurisdiction or any part or parts thereof. -- emphasis mine--

It seems to me like this is a catch-all charge to disarm people that want to riot, or otherwise cause a danger to "the public".

FWIW, after the hurricanes, they do enforce curfews and they cordon off harder-hit neighborhoods, making them off-limits to anyone except residents. They also halt sales of guns and ammunition. All this has been put in place since all the looting that went on after Hurricane Andrew back years ago. Might be some kind of infringement on our rights, but in times of real emergencies, the last thing I want is people that were too stupid to prepare buying up guns and trying to take what's mine while I'm off trying to do damage assessments...
 
That's the solution, let's take away even more rights from law-abiding citizens!

Next, they need to post big signs for criminals after a hurricane saying, "Make sure to ONLY rob people in public, since they can't defend themselves".
 
9x19sig, please go back and read Post #16.

That's the problem with threads like these: People take something out of context, incomplete, and we have a bunch of argument.

Starting with a false premise...

Closed.

Art
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top