The folding knife confiscated by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. | JSO
Published on May 30, 2025 at 12:24 pm
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Q: Three people were arrested this week after a disturbance at a City Council meeting, and one of them was charged with possessing a concealed weapon at the meeting.
Conor Cauley, 29, had a short knife that folded into a case the size of a credit card. He had managed to get into the meeting with the knife despite two levels of screening.
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The incident has led to a review of security at City Hall, but it left a Jacksonville Today reader with a question.
“There were mentions about concealed carry of guns allowed in City Hall, but this knife card being something of contention,” writes Jonathon A.
“What exactly is the law here regarding this?”
A: A Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office spokesperson says the law prohibits any concealed weapon — gun or knife — inside meetings of any elected body.
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The Florida Legislature changed state law in 2023 to allow people to carry concealed weapons or firearms without a license as long as they are carrying a government-issued ID. But the law includes a list of prohibited locations, including meetings of the governing body of a county, public school district, municipality or special district.
Other prohibited locations include courthouses, police stations, polling places, and elementary or secondary schools, among others.
Anyone entering Jacksonville City Hall faces a security screening inside the front door. People have to place anything in their clothing into an X-ray tray and then pass through a metal detector.
People going into the City Council chambers for a meeting pass through a second security screening. Items they have in pockets are again taken out as a metal detector wand is passed over the person.
The folding knife taken from Cauley was inside a wallet, so it was missed in the secondary screening process, Deegan administration spokesperson Phil Perry tells Jacksonville Today.
Since the knife is mostly plastic, with only a thin metal blade, “the small amount of metal is what makes it more difficult (for) metal detectors to identify,” Perry says.
After the incident, city officials said they will complete a full security review of City Hall, including potential equipment upgrades, staffing changes and security vendor options.
The contract for First Coast Security, the current provider, is set to expire in September.
