by Dave Workman | Editor-in-Chief
A Florida-based former president of the National Rifle Association and now one of the organization ‘s lobbyists is openly challenging Leon County Tax Collector Doris Maloy about her plan to not accept new concealed weapon license applications as her office reopens service centers in the county next month.
According to the Tallahassee Democrat, Maloy has a “five-point plan” that will allow her to open four service centers around the northern Florida county, which encompasses the state capitol of Tallahassee.
Former NRA President Marion Hammer, now heading the Unified Sportsmen of Florida reportedly sent a letter to Maloy in which she stated, “The Legislature has made clear that as an agent of the state, in your capacity as Leon County Tax Collector, you do not have the discretion over whether or not to accept these applications.”
Hammer reportedly told Maloy she would be in violation of state statute if she refuses to accept and process applications for CWLs.
This is not the only case, or state, where agencies responsible for accepting new concealed carry applications have been refusing, for at least two months, to allow or process those documents. The result is that thousands of law-abiding gun owners in several states—many of them for the first time—cannot get a carry permit or license in their home state to allow them to exercise their right to bear arms.
In her letter to Maloy and Vincent S. Long, county administrator, Hammer quotes the state statute that “specifically prohibits any regulation of firearms by a local government official.” That presumably would apply also to the acceptance of original license applications and issuance thereof.
“The Legislature made it possible for county Tax Collectors to become local agents of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services in order to accept Concealed Weapon or Firearm license applications, thereby providing convenient access to citizens” Hammer wrote. “The intent was to promote such rights, not stifle them as you propose.”
The two-page letter was sent via electronic mail on May 22.
The newspaper said Maloy “deflected questions about Hammer’s allegations to say that her plan attempt to balance providing essential services while protecting the health of her employees and the community.”
The NRA and other organizations have filed numerous legal actions against officials, including governors, in several states when those officials have adopted plans for government operations that do not include, or specifically exclude, anything doing with firearms such as operating gun stores and shooting ranges. One case was filed in neighboring Georgia by the Second Amendment Foundation and Firearms Policy Coalition on behalf of a Georgia woman. That action has apparently been resolved.
Maloy did tell the newspaper that her staff is processing license renewals and will resume accepting new applications when it is “safe to do so.”
There is apparently nothing in the state statute that addresses this argument.
