Florida Carry Inc. sued the City of St. Augustine on July 31 in St. Johns County Circuit Court over signs banning firearms at city public facilities, and it did not stop at the city. The statewide gun-rights group named Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline, City Manager David Birchim and Commissioners Jim Springfield, Jon DePreter and Cynthia Garris as defendants in their individual capacities, exposing each to a personal civil fine that public money generally cannot cover.
The complaint centers on a single sign: the one at the Visitor Information Center on South Castillo Drive telling visitors that firearms are not allowed on the property. Florida Carry alleges similar signs hang at other city buildings, including City Hall. The group says the signs discourage its members from carrying where state law otherwise permits it, and it wants them gone along with any city policies and publications that repeat the restriction.
Vice Mayor Barbara Blonder, the commission's fifth member, was not named. The lawsuit does not say why.
Why five names are on the complaint
The legal hook is Florida Statute 790.33, the state's firearms preemption law. It declares that the Legislature occupies the entire field of firearm regulation and that any conflicting local ordinance, rule, regulation or policy, written or unwritten, is null and void. Good faith is no defense. Neither is following the advice of a city attorney. The statute says so in plain text.
What makes the statute unusual is the personal liability. If a judge finds a violation was knowing and willful, the court must assess a civil fine of up to $5,000 against the official or agency head under whose jurisdiction it happened, and public funds may not be used to defend or reimburse that conduct. A knowing and willful violation is also grounds for removal from office by the governor.
| Remedy under 790.33 | Limit |
|---|---|
| Personal fine per official (knowing and willful) | Up to $5,000 |
| Actual damages | Up to $100,000 |
| Attorney fees and costs | Reasonable, multiplier allowed |
| Public money to pay the fine | Generally barred |
Florida Carry executive director Sean Caranna said the case could end up costing city taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees. The city had not commented as of publication.
Taking the sign down may not end it
There is a provision in the statute that matters here more than the headline fine. If a defendant voluntarily changes the offending policy or signage after a complaint is filed, with or without a court order, the plaintiff is still considered the prevailing plaintiff. That means a quiet decision to unbolt the sign this week would not by itself close off the fee award. The clock on interest, under the statute, runs from the day the suit was filed.
Florida Carry has a record of winning these fights. Its cases include a 2013 appellate ruling that stopped public universities from banning securely encased firearms in vehicles and a 2021 decision invalidating Broward County firearms restrictions. The personal fine is the harder ask. The group has sought those penalties against individual officials before without landing one.
Part of a wider push across Florida
City signage has become a live legal issue statewide since the First District Court of Appeal's ruling in McDaniels v. State made open carry lawful in Florida, and since the attorney general's office told law enforcement agencies and prosecutors not to enforce the old ban. In mid-July, the attorney general warned Winter Garden that "firearms" and "weapons" language on signs at a city recreation complex was null and void, and gave that city until Aug. 15 to confirm the wording was removed.
St. Augustine did not get that kind of warning letter. It got a lawsuit.
Not every gun restriction on public property is preempted. State law still bars carry in places such as courthouses, polling places on election day, school grounds and portions of airports, and the preemption statute carves out an exception letting local governments regulate what their own employees carry on duty. What 790.33 does not allow is a city deciding on its own which of its buildings are off limits to the public.
No hearing date has been set. The city has 20 days from service to file an answer, and the next regular City Commission meeting is the first place residents are likely to hear how St. Augustine intends to respond, whether that is a defense on the merits or a work order for a sign crew.
Follow the case and the rest of our city coverage at the St. Augustine Community Website, and read more government and politics stories from around the city and St. Johns County. Think the commission should fight this or pull the signs? Join the conversation in our Community Forum.
Header photo: Michael Rivera / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
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