Scott suggests that Tampa is overreaching in its request. Gov nixes GOP convention gun ban

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is saying no to Tampa’s request to ban the carrying of concealed weapons outside the Republican National Convention, according to a letter from Scott to Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

Buckhorn wrote to Scott on Tuesday requesting that the governor issue an executive order prohibiting the transportation of firearms in downtown Tampa during the convention.


In a response dated the same day, Scott suggests that Tampa is overreaching in its request. Already, he says, the Secret Service will ban firearms inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum itself as well as in a security perimeter immediately around the convention campus.

“You are now requesting that citizens be disarmed in all of downtown Tampa, including in areas across the river, and distant, from the convention center and Secret Service safe zone,” Scott wrote.

A 2011 law passed by the Legislature pre-empts cities and counties from passing local laws regulating firearms or ammunition.

As a result, Tampa plans to ban many weapons (clubs, slingshots, brass knuckles) and items that could be used as weapons (crowbars, glass bottles, water pistols) outside the Aug. 27-30 convention — but it cannot ban guns carried with a state concealed weapons permit.

Buckhorn wants to ban carrying concealed firearms inside the city’s proposed “Event Zone,” which covers downtown and a few surrounding areas.

In his letter to Scott, Buckhorn noted Florida’s firearms laws do not authorize anyone with a concealed-weapons permit to carry a gun into certain places, including athletic events and meetings of the Legislature.

“An event like the RNC may not have been contemplated at the time these statutes were enacted, but the city strongly believes that the RNC meets the spirit of the exemptions,” Buckhorn said.

But Scott responded that “while the government may enforce long-standing prohibitions on the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, an absolute ban on possession in entire neighborhoods and regions would surely violate the 2nd Amendment.”