Florida Attorney General Sues Jacksonville for $5 Million Over Illegal Firearm Registry Kept at City Buildings

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a lawsuit against the City of Jacksonville in Duval County Circuit Court on May 12, 2026, seeking $5 million in civil penalties after the city allegedly maintained an illegal registry of individuals who carried firearms into two government buildings. The lawsuit alleges that the city knowingly and willfully violated a Florida statute that prohibits government entities from keeping any list or record of privately owned firearms or their owners, a law that has been on the books since the 1980s.

What Jacksonville Did and When

According to the lawsuit, security personnel at Jacksonville City Hall and at the Yates Building, which houses the city's tax collector and property appraiser offices, began keeping handwritten logbooks in July 2023 recording information about individuals who entered those buildings while carrying firearms. The logbooks documented the visitor's name, date of birth, state-issued identification number, and the type of weapon they were carrying. The practice continued from July 2023 through April 2025, a period of nearly two years.

The logbooks captured information on more than 140 individual entries covering over 100 people who exercised their lawful right to carry firearms into the city buildings during that period. Florida is a shall-issue concealed carry state and, since July 2023, also allows permitless carry for individuals who meet the legal requirements to possess a firearm. Individuals carrying firearms into Jacksonville city buildings were doing so lawfully, and the recording of their identifying information and weapon details was done without their consent and without any legal authority, the lawsuit contends.

Uthmeier's office said the practice was approved by city management following the installation of Mayor Donna Deegan's administration in July 2023, the same month the logbooks began. The city confirmed that the logbooks existed and that the practice was put in place as a security procedure, but Mayor Deegan's office characterized the lawsuit as politically motivated, arguing that the city was acting in good faith to protect public employees and the public in government facilities.

The Florida Law at Issue

Florida Statutes Section 790.335 makes it unlawful for a local government or any employee of a government entity to knowingly and willfully keep or cause to be kept any list, record, or registry of privately owned firearms or any list, record, or registry of the owners of those firearms. The statute was enacted as part of Florida's broader framework of preempting local governments from enacting firearms regulations more restrictive than state law.

The law is a product of Florida's longstanding legislative commitment to uniform firearms regulations across the state, which prevents a patchwork of local ordinances that vary from city to city or county to county. The preemption framework extends to records, not just regulatory restrictions. The legislature's intent was to prevent local governments from tracking gun ownership in ways that could function as de facto registration systems even if they were not formally labeled as such.

The maximum civil penalty under the statute is $5 million for a local government that knowingly and willfully maintains a prohibited firearm record, which is the amount Uthmeier is seeking in the lawsuit. The attorney general's action bypassed the local state attorney in the Fourth Judicial Circuit, who had jurisdiction over Jacksonville. Uthmeier exercised authority granted by state law to initiate civil enforcement directly when he determined that local enforcement was not proceeding.

Mayor Deegan's Response and Jacksonville's Defense

Mayor Donna Deegan, a Democrat who took office in July 2023, rejected the allegations in the attorney general's lawsuit and called the legal action politically motivated. Deegan's office maintained that the city's security procedures at government buildings were reasonable measures to protect employees and the public, and that the logbooks were a safety practice rather than a gun registry in the legal sense.

The city's legal team was expected to argue that recording entry information for individuals bringing weapons into government workplaces falls within the city's authority to manage the safety of its facilities and employees, and is distinct from the type of comprehensive firearm ownership registry that the state statute was intended to prevent. That distinction, between a narrowly scoped security log and a broad ownership record, is likely to be central to the legal dispute.

Jacksonville is a Democratic-led city in a state with a Republican governor and Republican attorney general. The lawsuit fits a broader pattern of the DeSantis administration using state enforcement authority against Democratic-controlled local governments. Deegan's supporters characterized the legal action as the latest example of Tallahassee using state power to target a Democratic mayor rather than a genuine concern about firearms policy compliance.

Florida's Firearms Preemption Framework

Florida's statewide firearms preemption law has generated significant controversy and litigation since it was strengthened in 2011. Under the law, local officials who enact or enforce firearms regulations that conflict with state law can be personally fined and removed from office. The law was amended in 2011 to add personal liability for local officials, a provision that was challenged in court but ultimately upheld.

The preemption framework reflects a legislative judgment that uniformity in firearms law is essential for gun owners who travel through different jurisdictions and should not have to track varying local rules. Critics of the preemption system argue that it prevents cities and counties from taking reasonable steps to address local public safety concerns, particularly in densely populated urban areas where gun violence rates and security challenges differ substantially from rural parts of the state.

The Jacksonville registry case represents a novel application of the statute, applying the records prohibition to a security logbook rather than a formal registration program. Legal observers said the outcome could clarify the scope of the records prohibition and establish whether government facilities have any authority to track armed visitors as part of routine security operations.

The AG's Enforcement Pattern and Political Context

Attorney General Uthmeier has established himself as an aggressive enforcer of state law against local governments that he views as defying Florida statutes, particularly in areas where state policy and Democratic local government priorities diverge. Alongside the Jacksonville gun registry lawsuit, Uthmeier has pursued investigations and subpoenas targeting the NFL over diversity hiring practices, announced civil action related to Cuba policy, and taken enforcement actions related to local government compliance with state immigration cooperation requirements.

The $5 million Jacksonville lawsuit was announced at a press conference that included law enforcement officials and Second Amendment advocates, framing the action as a defense of lawful gun owners' privacy rights. The gun registry statute has rarely been used as the basis for a major civil penalty action against a Florida city, making the Jacksonville case potentially significant as a precedent for future enforcement.

Jacksonville city officials said they suspended the logbook practice in April 2025 and destroyed the records at that time, before the attorney general's investigation became public. Uthmeier's office said the destruction of the records after the practice was discovered does not eliminate the liability for having maintained the registry in the first place, and that the statutory penalty applies to the conduct of keeping the records regardless of whether those records still exist.

What's Next in the Case

The lawsuit will proceed in Duval County Circuit Court, where Jacksonville will have the opportunity to file a formal response and assert its legal defenses. Legal observers expect the case to address whether the city's logbooks constitute the type of record prohibited by the statute, whether the knowing and willful standard is met given city management's awareness of and approval for the practice, and whether the $5 million maximum penalty is appropriate given the specific circumstances.

The case could draw participation from gun rights organizations and civil liberties groups on both sides. The National Rifle Association and Florida Carry, a Florida-based gun rights organization, have both been vocal supporters of strict enforcement of the state's preemption statute. Civil liberties groups may weigh in on the question of whether a government facility has any inherent security interest in tracking armed visitors that would place the logbooks outside the scope of the prohibited registry statute.

A ruling in the case, whether from a trial court or on appeal, would establish precedent for how Florida government buildings can and cannot manage armed visitors. For the hundreds of local governments across Florida that operate public buildings open to concealed carry holders, the outcome of the Jacksonville case will shape security policies and the boundaries of what record-keeping is permissible under state law. The Florida Legislature could also potentially weigh in with statutory clarification depending on how the courts rule.