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Originally Posted by Don P
Well here is the response I received from Mr. Jon Gutmacher PA.,...
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Interesting and thank you. Note that his reply was (emphasis added):
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likely only if you warned them to leave and they refused
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Seems a bit vague to me.
Now if I, as a lawyer, were asking the question of another lawyer on behalf of a client who intended to rely on the answer, I'd want a much clearer answer and would ask the question as follows:
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Title XLVI, Section 810.08(1) of Florida Statutes defines, in pertinent part, criminal trespass to a structure thusly (emphasis added):
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Whoever, without being authorized, licensed, or invited, willfully enters or remains in any structure ... commits the offense of trespass in a structure...
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Assume that a business open to the public has properly posted a sign satisfying any legally applicable criteria at the entrance to the premises (housed within a structure) stating that entry with a firearm is not permitted. If a private citizen lawfully carrying a concealed firearm, having a permit recognized by the State of Florida to do so, were to enter that premises –
- Could you definitively opine that a Florida court would hold that such entry would by reason of the sign be willful entry without authorization, license or invitation and therefore constitute, by itself, criminal trespass? Why or why not?
- Could you definitively opine that a Florida court would hold that such entry would not, notwithstanding the sign, be willful entry without authorization, license or invitation and therefore not constitute, by itself, criminal trespass? Why or why not?
Please answer with the understanding that a person intends to rely on the response in deciding whether or not to enter while lawfully wearing a concealed firearm a properly posted “no firearms” business.
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I might want to do such a thing if, for example, I, as a lawyer in a State other than Florida, were representing a client who intended to visit Florida and who wanted a definitive answer to minimize as much as possible any surprises; and my client would expect to pay for the opinion. In fact during the course of my practice I've had occasion to do similar things when a client needed some definitive guidance on a matter of law of another State.