Florida HOA Banned Your Carry at the Pool. The AG Told Them to Shove It.

The Tradition Community Association's rule would have applied to nearly everyone inside the community's boundaries. Exceptions were limited to private rights-of-way, sidewalks, vehicles, and law enforcement. Residents and visitors with valid Florida concealed carry permits would have faced expulsion from shared spaces for exercising a constitutional right.

Uthmeier's warning letter cited Florida Statute § 790.251(4)(e), which prohibits employers — including registered not-for-profit corporations with employees — from discriminating against staff or invitees based on lawful carry. Association employees and contractors, he wrote, cannot be terminated for carrying. Visitors in common areas are invitees under the statute and cannot be expelled for lawful carry either.

Port St. Lucie Police Chief Leo Niemczyk added that his department enforces state law, not HOA rules. Violations of the association's firearms policy are not criminal offenses and will not be enforced by city police.

Florida has expanded gun rights aggressively in recent years — constitutional carry, strong statewide preemption, and litigation that dismantled the open carry ban. Anti-gun activists were always going to find new venues. HOAs and condominium boards are the latest frontier.

The deeper question is whether private associations exercising quasi-governmental authority — assessments, fines, architectural control, rulemaking — can outsource constitutional violations. Similar disputes have emerged in Illinois public housing, where federal courts blocked blanket firearm bans in residents' homes. Hawaii's pending Supreme Court case in Wolford v. Lopez examines whether states can presumptively ban carry on private property open to the public unless the owner affirmatively consents.

If constitutional rights can be nullified by a board vote in a gated community, legislatures will need to draw clearer lines. Florida's AG just drew one in Port St. Lucie.