HOA Tries to Ban Guns, Police Chief Sets Them Straight

I’m Lance Rankin, a Texas FFL and gunsmith at Western Sport in Roanoke. My customers ask about HOA rules more than you’d guess, so when a Florida HOA tried to ban guns and got publicly corrected by the local police chief, I paid attention. Here’s what happened and why it matters well beyond one Florida subdivision. As with any legal story, this is dated commentary; check where things stand now before relying on it.

What the HOA tried

The Tradition Community Association in Port St. Lucie, Florida sent residents a notice: no carrying a firearm or any weapon, openly or concealed, in the community’s common areas. That covered the town hall, parks, trails, and dog parks, and it applied even to residents with valid concealed carry licenses. The board adopted the rule by unanimous written consent as an amendment to its governing documents, carving out exceptions only for private rights-of-way, sidewalks, vehicles, and on-duty law enforcement.

Read that again. A homeowners association, the same body that fines you over lawn height, decided it could suspend lawful carry across most of the shared spaces its residents pay for.

The chief’s answer

Port St. Lucie Police Chief Leo Nemczyk put out a statement that deserves framing. The HOA’s notice, he said, is not a law or an ordinance. His department enforces Florida state law, not private HOA policy. Officers would evaluate any call based on the totality of circumstances and applicable Florida law, and while private associations can set policies for their property, those policies are not criminal violations and his department will not enforce them. He went out of his way to affirm support for the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens, the Second Amendment included.

That’s the whole ballgame, legally. An HOA rule without criminal enforcement behind it is a strongly worded letter. The association might pursue its own civil remedies against members, but nobody’s getting arrested for lawfully carrying past the dog park.

The genuinely hard question underneath

I’ll be honest about the tension here, because it deserves better than a bumper sticker. Private property owners get to set rules on their property; I set rules in my own shop. But an HOA isn’t a homeowner. It’s a quasi-governmental body that controls the daily environment of thousands of residents who often had no practical choice but to accept its jurisdiction when they bought their homes. When an entity like that conditions the use of parks and trails you’re assessed fees to maintain on surrendering a constitutional right, the private property argument gets thin fast.

And this isn’t random. When gun bans fail in legislatures, the effort moves to private chokepoints: corporate policies, payment processors, and now HOA covenants. The right stays on paper while the places you can exercise it quietly shrink. Millions of Americans live under community associations. If one board’s ban stands unchallenged, the template spreads.

What I’d tell gun owners

First, know the difference between a rule and a law. As of this writing, the practical outcome in Port St. Lucie is that lawful carriers there answer to Florida statute, not to Exhibit A of the HOA’s covenants. Second, read your own association documents before a board surprises you, and show up to the meetings where these rules get adopted by “unanimous written consent.” Quiet boards make bold rules.

Here in Texas, carry law is friendlier but has its own quirks. My guides on Texas constitutional carry and the Texas LTC cover where you can and can’t carry, and if you’re just getting started, how to buy a gun in Texas is the place to begin. Questions about any of it? [email protected] or 817-393-4000. I answer my own phone.