Alachua Police Department acknowledges that firearms can be carried at Legacy Park Multipurpose Center

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

ALACHUA, Fla. – In response to negotiations with an attorney representing Chris Rose II, who was arrested outside a Republican Party event featuring Governor Ron DeSantis in October 2022, Alachua Police Department Chief Jesse Sandusky has issued a Legal Bulletin notifying officers that members of the public cannot be prohibited from entering the Legacy Park Multipurpose Center and similar public buildings if they are legally carrying a concealed weapon, regardless of the event being held, as long as the event is not one of the exceptions listed in Florida statutes.

Rose was arrested on October 20, 2022 while protesting outside the City-owned building, where the Black Tie Blue Jeans event featuring the Governor was held. The Governor’s team informed the Alachua County Republican Executive Committee about four days before the event that guns would not be permitted, messages were sent to attendees that there would be a metal detector at the door, and Rose decided to protest.

Although Rose was outside the building, the event manager asked Alachua Police Department (APD) officers to trespass him, and Rose later told us he had expected to be trespassed and planned to leave after receiving the trespass notice, but he wanted to actually be trespassed to preserve an opportunity for future legal action. However, before that happened, he was arrested and taken to jail.

The charges were later dropped, and Rose’s attorney has been in discussions with APD, resulting in the legal notice sent out on February 26, 2025.

The Legal Bulletin states:

Chapter 790.33 FSS states in part: Except as expressly provided by the State Constitution or
general law, the legislature hereby declares that it is occupying the whole field of regulation of
firearms and ammunition, including the purchase, sale, transfer, taxation, manufacture,
ownership, possession, storage, and transportation thereof, to the exclusion of all existing and
future county, city, town, or municipal ordinances or any administrative regulations or rules
adopted by local or state government relating thereto. Any such existing ordinances, rules, or
regulations are hereby declared null and void.

What does this mean and how does it affect the Alachua Police Department?

The refusal of entry of an individual legally carrying a concealed weapon into a publicly owned
structure is contrary to 790.33 FSS, regardless of the event being held.

Moving forward, the Alachua Police Department will not comply with any request, demand, order.
rule, or regulation that requires a person or persons to relinquish a legally carried concealed firearm
or ammunition prior to access into any of the public buildings located within the jurisdiction of the
City of Alachua unless it meets the criteria set forth in 790.06 (12) (a) FSS.

Rose sent the following statement to Alachua Chronicle:

“This legal bulletin by the Alachua Police Department is the precedent we need to strike down across the state what is known as the ‘municipal two-step,’ which is when local government leases public property to a private entity that, in turn, uses the lease as a means to get around state law that forbids government property being a gun-free zone unless already specified by the legislature. 

“Until now, local governments have been able to pry away the civil rights of the people, even rights protected by statute, by enforcing this exploitation. I commend the City of Alachua and the Alachua Police Department for their about-face in this matter, and I am glad to see them moving forward to ensure their policies are in line with State law.

“This is a victory for all folks who cherish their civil rights, especially where their tax dollars were used. No one should ever be forced to pay for public property and have their protected rights denied them on that property as a result.”

The exceptions set out in Florida statutes are below:

790.06 (12)(a) A license issued under this section does not authorize any person to openly carry a handgun or carry a concealed weapon or concealed firearm into:

1. Any place of nuisance as defined in s. 823.05;

2. Any police, sheriff, or highway patrol station;

3. Any detention facility, prison, or jail;

4. Any courthouse;

5. Any courtroom, except that nothing in this section precludes a judge from carrying a concealed weapon or concealed firearm or determining who will carry a concealed weapon or concealed firearm in his or her courtroom;

6. Any polling place;

7. Any meeting of the governing body of a county, public school district, municipality, or special district;

8. Any meeting of the Legislature or a committee thereof;

9. Any school, college, or professional athletic event not related to firearms;

10. Any elementary or secondary school facility or administration building;

11. Any career center;

12. Any portion of an establishment licensed to dispense alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises, which portion of the establishment is primarily devoted to such purpose;

13. Any college or university facility unless the licensee is a registered student, employee, or faculty member of such college or university and the weapon is a stun gun or nonlethal electric weapon or device designed solely for defensive purposes and the weapon does not fire a dart or projectile;

14. The inside of the passenger terminal and sterile area of any airport, provided that no person shall be prohibited from carrying any legal firearm into the terminal, which firearm is encased for shipment for purposes of checking such firearm as baggage to be lawfully transported on any aircraft; or

15. Any place where the carrying of firearms is prohibited by federal law.