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Fort Lauderdale is kicking gun shows out of War Memorial Auditorium and now the gun show operators are kicking back — suing the city in federal court.
Florida Gun Shows Inc. says the city is violating the company’s free speech rights and should not be treating it differently than other legitimate commercial operations.
The two-day shows attract thousands of visitors to the city-owned auditorium in Holiday Park, where shows have been held multiple times each year for more than 30 years. The gun show is challenging the city’s decision not to renew its contract following the February shootings at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 34 people were shot and 17 of them killed.
“Despite [the gun show’s] history of promoting successful and safe gun shows at the [auditorium] for many years, as a result of the tragic school shooting deaths of a number of Broward County students at the hands of a criminal, the political climate in Broward County in 2018 has become very hostile towards gun shows and gun rights in general,†the suit said.
The city wants the gun shows out because of safety concerns in the city park and the negative image of having a city building host gun events, Mayor Dean Trantalis said. The city offered to help the gun show find another venue in the city, he said.
“We have reached out numerous times and [the owner] continues to stonewall us on the ability to seek out other venues,†Trantalis said. “We’re not trying to ban the sale of guns in our city.â€
While the suit said there wasn’t a safety issue because the events have been run “smoothly, safely and without incident,†Trantalis disagreed.
“They never had an incident in Parkland, either. Why tempt danger when we can avoid it?†he said.
Khaled Akkawi, who owns the gun show, said he welcomed the city’s help to find another location. Commissioner Ben Sorensen contacted him with several ideas, he said, but the Broward Convention Center fell through because it was too close to the port, the BB&T Center in Sunrise couldn’t guarantee dates because of the Florida Panthers hockey season and the Signature Grand in Davie was more interested in weddings and events where it also would be providing food and drink services.
Akkawi doesn’t know yet if he will have a January show in the area if the courts don’t step in and allow him to use War Memorial. He operates 40 shows a year, he said. In addition to the seven in Fort Lauderdale, he has others in Orlando, Tampa, Lakeland, Palmetto, Fort Myers, Miami and Daytona Beach.
While Fort Lauderdale’s haven’t been his biggest show, its visitors have some of the highest incomes per capita, Akkawi said. He has “the best, law-abiding people coming through the show,†he said.
“This mayor wants to ban guns because he doesn’t like guns,†Akkawi said.
Trantalis sought unsuccessfully for five years as a commissioner — ever since the Sandy Hook school shootings — to stop the War Memorial gun shows.
It wasn’t until a new City Commission was elected in March with Trantalis as mayor that there was a decision to stop renting War Memorial out for the gun shows.
The new commission said the city would not renew the gun show lease after it expires in November. The gun show had seven weekend events scheduled at the auditorium this year but cancelled a March show following the Parkland massacre at the request of then-Mayor Jack Seiler. This year’s last show will be held Nov. 17-18.
Florida Gun Shows said its agreement with the city includes reservation dates for future gun shows through 2025 and those dates should be honored. It wants its shows treated the same as the boxing matches, mixed martial arts competitions, body building competitions and other events held at War Memorial.
The suit also said city commissioners and staff are violating a state law that prohibits local governments from regulating the purchase, sale, transfer and ownership of firearms and ammunition, which it said the city is doing by “adopting and enforcing an anti-gun show policy at its publicly owned facility.â€
The suit said the gun show retains the right to add individuals officials to the suit who could be subject to severe penalties under the state law. Those penalties include a $5,000 fine, possible removal from office and opening officials up to further potential lawsuits seeking additional monetary damages in excess of $100,000.
City Attorney Alain Boileau declined to comment on the suit.
Trantalis said the gun show suit may be a moot issue, since the city is looking to stop renting out the building for events and wants to have to a single year-round tenant. While he declined to comment on potential suitors, city officials in June were awaiting a proposal from the Florida Panthers hockey team under which the auditorium could be used for a training rink for the team and an ice rink for children.
Trantalis said several proposals are being discussed.
“Until that happens, we may end up closing the facility because of the significant cost the city incurs to maintain that facility,†Trantalis said.
