(Guy J. Sagi / Shutterstock photo)
October 03, 2024
This past week, Hurricane Helene left hundreds of thousands of Floridians without power, running water, and in some cases, without a home. But it appears that Hurricane Helene didn’t just leave a physical path of destruction, it also caused a political one, too.
The City of Okeechobee, in the heart of rural central Florida, passed a declaration of emergency as a response to the storm, something that just about every municipality does as a precaution when a hurricane is barreling down. However, this declaration of emergency clearly caused its own emergency.
The city cited state statute §870.044 in its declaration and posted in their notice that gun shops are forbidden from selling guns and ammunition, but more importantly, that the residents are forbidden from carrying firearms in public. That is a major violation of the Second Amendment, and a major screw up on the city itself because the law they cited wasn’t even related to hurricanes.
Statute §870.044 is in place for riots and looting, not for hurricane recovery. The enabling statute for such an act is §870.043 and it clearly states that it can only be enacted when there has “been an act of violence or a flagrant and substantial defiance of, or resistance to, a lawful exercise of public authority.” Hurricanes don’t fall under such, but going further into the city’s notice, they cite the entirety of the §870.044 except for the final sentence, which states the following:
“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.” This was added to the statute after the infamous incident that occurred in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck the Big Easy. Plus, you have the federal Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006, which prohibits the confiscation of legally possessed firearms during a disaster situation like a hurricane. In fact, the entire chapter where this law exists is titled “AFFRAYS; RIOTS; ROUTS; UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLIES.” Not once in the entire chapter are the words “hurricane,” “storm,” or “disaster” even mentioned.
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Gun Owners of America (GOA) was notified of this declaration by its members and upon being informed, GOA immediately reached out to the city to find out what was happening. But GOA just doesn’t send emails, letters, or make phone calls. Oh no, GOA shows up in person to get answers.
That’s what exactly I did. On September 30, Okeechobee was scheduled to have their city council meeting and I made sure I was there to address this issue and get answers for what happened.
I spoke directly with Mayor Dowling Watford and Police Chief Donald Hagan. Both profusely apologized and explained that at no point was it their intention to strip the residents and business owners of their Second Amendment rights.
I made sure to point out to the mayor that while their public statement admitted a mistake and was a good first step, it needed to go further. After all, one of the key issues wasn’t just the fact that the declaration barred the sale of firearms and ammunition, it also barred the law-abiding public from being able to carry outside of their homes. All forms of gun control have been an absolute failure since, by definition, criminals are criminals because they break the law.
Mayor Watford was extremely apologetic for what happened and admitted that they did screw up, which is extremely rare for an elected official to do. In all my years of dealing with public officials, hardly ever do you see someone in public office admit they made a mistake. He promised that the City of Okeechobee will never do such a thing again, and he was personally appreciative that GOA came to the meeting to explain the issues in a professional manner. Afterwards, I stepped out of the council chambers and spoke with Chief Hagan.
The Chief told me that he’s one of the biggest pro-gun guys in town and even supports open carry being legalized and that he personally rescinded the order when he realized that it violated the Second Amendment. He further clarified that the mistake happened because he was signing a number of documents before the storm, and he didn’t proofread the emergency declaration when it crossed his desk. Plus, he said that the declaration template had been on the books going back several years, and no one really paid any attention to it. Hagan said that he would never have personally enforced such an order, which is why he rescinded it when he realized it was wrong.
Regarding Okeechobee itself, the people who make up the place are very pro-gun. The town has a hardworking, salt of the earth, pro-freedom loving mindset. The county it’s in literally has more cattle than people. It is the type of place where you’d think freedom would be the number one priority.
However, what happened is not excusable and gun owners deserved an answer for what happened. That’s why GOA went to Okeechobee, to get to the bottom of this and make sure it never happens again. All evidence is pointing to this happening due to institutional incompetency within the city’s government, but a benign incompetence, even something that was done without malicious malfeasance, can still result in tyranny. As the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
We cannot let our guard down, no matter what. Mistakes caused via incompetency are not excusable, because the civil rights at stake are freedoms that American men and women have sacrificed for, bled for, and died for.
As a former police officer, I know that culpable negligence is no excuse under the law. And if I made an honest mistake on the job that still resulted in me harming someone or violating their civil rights, I would still be held accountable.
Mr. Hagan is the Chief of Police and Mr. Watford is the mayor; the buck stops with both of them. It is their responsibility to make sure that the people under their care have their rights respected. Again, a benign incompetence, even something that was done without malicious malfeasance, can still result in unconstitutional loss of rights.Hanlon’s razor says it best: “never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”
Let the City of Okeechobee serve as an example to every other city and town across Florida. No matter what, GOA is watching and will spring into action, go in person, and make sure the Second Amendment is respected and protected.
Luis Valdes is a former law enforcement officer and detective, and is currently the Florida State Director, Outreach Director of Puerto Rico & US Virgin Islands, and National Spokesman for Gun Owners of America. You can follow Luis on X via @RealFLGunLobby.