Leon County plans to join a court fight against a state law that preempts most local gun-related rules. Commissioner Bryan Desolge says for him the issue isn’t about firearms. It’s about home rule.
“In this case there was horrible overreach, Desloge says. "And I tend to agree. We had some pretty innocuous rules here that you can’t shoot on or across a state road today. That’s a given. Well, we said you can’t shoot on or across a county maintained road. Seemed to make sense to me. There was a rule you can’t have guns in county parks. But we got run over. I’m not trying to change the gun law, but I think the home rule thing is important here.”
Many local government leaders say they feel home rule has come under attack by the state legislature in recent years. Members of the city and county commissions have worked to push back against that.
