By Dan Bushell
Gun rights advocates received a big win in Florida’s First District Court of Appeal on December 10, 2013. The 1st DCA took the unusual step of issuing seven separate opinions to explain the result.
Sitting en banc in Florida Carry, Inc. v. University of North Florida, the 1st DCA voted 12-3 to reverse the dismissal of a suit challenging the University of North Florida’s policy of prohibiting students from keeping firearms in their vehicles on campus. Judge Padovano, joined by Judges Van Nortwick and Clark, dissented.
The Facts
The suit was brought by Florida Carry, an advocacy group, and Alexandria Lainez, a UNF student, challenging a UNF policy that prohibited storage of a “weapon or destructive device,” including a gun, in a vehicle on UNF property, and subjected students to punishment and possible prosecution for violating that policy. Florida Carry argued that UNF has no power to regulate firearms, because by virtue of section 790.33(1), Florida Statutes, the Florida Legislature has “preempted the field” of firearms regulation, i.e., reserved for itself the exclusive right to regulate firearms in Florida.
The Primary Issue: Is UNF a School District?
On the surface, the appeal required only the resolution of a straightforward question of statutory construction. UNF argued, and the trial court agreed, that despite the legislature’s reservation of the power to regulate firearms, it had delegated to UNF the power to regulate possession of firearms in parking lots on campus.
Under Section 790.115(2)(a)(3) and 790.25(5), the legislature declared that it is generally unlawful to carry firearms on school grounds, with certain exceptions, including carrying a firearm or other weapon in a vehicle if the weapon is “securely encased”:
it is lawful…for a person 18 years of age or older to possess a concealed firearm or other weapon for self-defense or other lawful purpose within the interior of a private conveyance, without a license, if the firearm or other weapon is securely encased or is otherwise not readily accessible for immediate use…This subsection shall be liberally construed in favor of the lawful use, ownership, and possession of firearms and other weapons, including lawful self-defense…
But Section 790.115(2)(a)(3) also gives “school districts” the power to “adopt written and published policies that waive” the exception allowing weapons in vehicles “for purposes of student and campus parking privileges.” So the primary issue was whether UNF is a “school district,” such that the legislature delegated to UNF
