The Liberty Daily 
(The Daily Caller)—Florida’s attorney general is suing the city of Jacksonville over an alleged registry of gun owners, seeking a fine of as much as $5 million.
The alleged registry, first revealed by a Republican city council member in May 2025 to WJAX, a Jacksonville-area TV station, reportedly listed about 100 people who had entered city buildings while armed. Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the legal action in a Tuesday afternoon post on X, concluding a probe he launched in January.
“Today we are suing the city of Jacksonville for knowingly maintaining an illegal gun registry in violation of Florida law,” Uthmeier said. “In July 2023, after Mayor [Donna] Deegan took office, Jacksonville City management approved and implemented a logbook, a gun registry that required security officers to screen visitors and record the visitor’s name, age, state-issued ID number and the weapon type of anyone found to be carrying a firearm.”
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“Jacksonville continued this practice until April 2025 when an individual attempted to enter a city building while legally carrying a firearm. The individual was unlawfully denied entry by security officers on duty when he would not provide the requested information,” Uthmeier continued. “Florida law prohibits government entities from keeping a registry of privately owned firearms or their owners. The city’s logbooks maintained with city management’s knowledge and approval constitute such a registry.”
Uthmeier and the city of Jacksonville did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The logbooks were maintained at the order of a manager who mistakenly believed the city’s general counsel had reviewed the policy a report from the State Attorney’s Office said, according to WJAX, . State Attorney Melissa Nelson elected not to file criminal charges, drawing criticism from Uthmeier.
During her probe of the registry, Nelson issued subpoenas to nine current and former officials of the city of Jacksonville.
“From what I can gather, this was a person who was very concerned about making sure that there was nothing to worry about in terms of security in the building,” Democratic Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan told WJAX in a May 14, 2025 interview.
City records indicated that while a draft of the policy was in place, there was no evidence high-ranking officials like Deegan or her predecessor, former Mayor Lenny Curry, were aware of the policy, according to WJAX.
“The conclusion of this investigation without charges or accountability is unacceptable. State Attorney Melissa Nelson will be hearing from my office soon,” Uthmeier posted on Dec. 31. “The City of Jacksonville’s creation of a gun registry for any reason is unlawful and reprehensible. This isn’t over.”
In his Tuesday post, Uthmeier declared that he would not tolerate the Second Amendment being treated as a “second class right.”
“The Second Amendment is not a second-class right, and we will use all power of this office to protect the rights of Floridians,” Uthmeier said.
