Florida passed constitutional carry in 2023 – the same day Jacksonville's Democrat mayor took office and someone in her administration started logging the names, birthdates, ID numbers, and firearm types of every gun owner who walked into City Hall.
Before a citizen blew the whistle in April 2025, that binder had been quietly filling up for nearly two years.
Now Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is done waiting for the local prosecutor to act – and what he just did to Mayor Donna Deegan is going to cost Jacksonville millions.
What Jacksonville's Democrat Administration Was Actually Doing
The logbooks at City Hall and the Yates Building weren't a minor paperwork quirk.
Security personnel were recording names, photo ID numbers, ages, and weapon types – exactly the kind of data Florida law has explicitly banned since 2004.
Florida Statute 790.335 exists because lawmakers recognized what a gun registry actually does: under the statute's own legislative findings, such a list "can become an instrument for profiling, harassing, or abusing law-abiding citizens based on their choice to own a firearm."
More than 140 entries covering over 100 individuals were recorded across nearly two years of Deegan's administration.
When the citizen who discovered it reported the practice in April 2025, the city shut it down immediately – which is not the behavior of an administration that thought it was doing nothing wrong.
The State Attorney Blinked – So Uthmeier Stepped In
The 4th Circuit State Attorney's Office spent eight months investigating and ultimately declined to pursue criminal charges, concluding the registry was created by a single Public Works manager who "mistakenly believed" it was legal and had no criminal intent.
State Attorney Melissa Nelson – a Republican, notably – called it a "failure of process" rather than deliberate misconduct.
Uthmeier rejected that interpretation on every level.
"Ignorance of the law is no excuse," he wrote in his March 2 letter to Nelson, adding that the statute only requires someone to have intentionally kept the log and known it documented privately owned firearms – not that they specifically knew it was illegal.
"Either city leadership was fully aware of the firearm logbook practice and did nothing," Uthmeier wrote, "or they failed to adequately train and supervise their employees."
https://twitter.com/AGJamesUthmeier/status/2028511255858643083?s=20
Either way, Jacksonville is on the hook.
Deegan Is Playing the Blame Game – and Losing
Mayor Deegan's office called Uthmeier's civil enforcement move "politically motivated deflections that waste taxpayer dollars."
She's been running that play since the story broke – insisting the policy predated her administration, pointing fingers at Republican predecessor Lenny Curry.
Curry torched that narrative.
He documented that the final revised policy directing security to log gun owners was dated July 24, 2023 – more than three weeks after Deegan was sworn in.
"My employees when I was mayor, Jacksonville did not create an illegal gun registry and record private citizens' names in that registry," Curry said.
Deegan can claim ignorance all she wants, but Uthmeier already answered that: institutional ignorance is still institutional failure.
What Uthmeier's Civil Action Actually Means for Jacksonville Taxpayers
There's a $5 million fine waiting at the end of this road.
Under Florida Statute 790.335(4)(c), if a court determines a registry was compiled with the knowledge or complicity of management, the city can be assessed up to $5 million – and Uthmeier has directed Deputy AG Jason Hilborn to retrieve all evidence from the case to commence civil proceedings.
City Councilman Nick Howland saw this coming last spring, warning that Jacksonville taxpayers would be "on the hook for millions of dollars."
Unlike the state attorney's office, Uthmeier isn't treating institutional negligence as a get-out-of-jail-free card.
The over 100 gun owners whose data was illegally recorded "are entitled to redress," he noted.
So is the state of Florida.
Sources:
- Michelle Vecerina, "Uthmeier moves to sue Jacksonville over 'illegal' gun registry, overriding local prosecutor," Florida Phoenix, March 2, 2026.
- Kiley Miller, "AG seeks potential civil penalties against Jacksonville for gun logs," WTLV First Coast News, March 2, 2026.
- A.G. Gancarski, "Donna Deegan blasts James Uthmeier for exploring civil action against Jacksonville for 'firearm logbook,'" Florida Politics, March 2, 2026.
- A.G. Gancarski, "Documents shed light on City of Jacksonville gun registry controversy," Florida Politics, May 2025.
- A.G. Gancarski, "'Completely unacceptable': Ron DeSantis wants 'consequences' for 'unlawful' Jax gun registry," Florida Politics, May 9, 2025.
- Florida Statute § 790.335, Prohibition of Registration of Firearms; Electronic Records, The Florida Senate.
