OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (CBS12) — Before Hurricane Helene made landfall, several cities and municipalities declared local states of emergency to ensure funds would be available for storm-related repairs.

One city’s local state of temporary emergency order has stirred controversy from gun advocates. On Monday, the Okeechobee Police Department admitted to enacting the wrong declaration last week, which mistakenly included a gun ban.

Firearms Policy Coalition, a non-profit gun rights organization headquartered in California, recently posted the notice on X, criticizing the police department for adopting the order, which banned the sale of guns and ammunition and prohibited public firearm possession by anyone other than law enforcement or military members.

The order, which initially cited Florida Statute 870.044, went to effect Thursday, September 26 for a few hours. It was signed by Police Chief Donald Hagan ahead of Hurricane Helene’s arrival. The city issued a statement and spoke with CBS12 News about the error.

“This is something that was mistakenly enacted. Once we learned that the emergency order was not the order that we intended to declare, we immediately terminated it,” Det. Jarret Romanello, Public Information Officer for the Okeechobee City Police Department, told CBS12 News on Monday.

Calls and emails started pouring in, despite the termination of the order.

“He’s not here today because he was subject to personal attacks all day from all over this country,” Romanello said, referring to Chief Hagan. “Most of the noise is coming from people that live outside the city of Okeechobee.”

City gun stores, including Wild Side Pawn and Gun in Okeechobee, told CBS12 News they were not impacted by the order.

“At no time did any Okeechobee City Police Department officers take any enforcement action pursuant to the declaration. No guns were seized. No businesses were approached or told to take down their firearms. We very much support our Second Amendment,” Romanello said."The Okeechobee City Police Department values the civil liberties of all our citizens, and we value the rights of our citizens, including the right to bear arms.

City officials are currently reviewing the incident to understand how the mistake occurred.

“City officials are currently reviewing that matter, and we look forward to providing more answers as soon as that review is complete,” Romanello added.

Romanello suggested that the intended declaration might have been related to a state of emergency under Chapter 870 of the Florida Statutes, which bans carrying or selling guns during riots or public disorder, not natural disasters.

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The Firearms Policy Coalition, which shared the public notice online, released the following statement to CBS12 News:

"Okeechobee Police Chief Donald Hagen unlawfully and unconstitutionally applied a Florida statute limited to riots and acts 'of violence or a flagrant and substantial defiance of, or resistance to, a lawful exercise of public authority' to circumstances caused by a natural disaster. Times like these are when people most need access to their individual right to keep and bear arms. The office of Governor DeSantis informed us this morning that they not only addressed this error with the police chief but will support a legislative repeal of this outdated and unconstitutional law so that this cannot happen in the future. FPC fully supports Governor DeSantis's efforts to eliminate this statute and prevent errors and abuses by local authorities."

CBS12’s attempts to reach Governor DeSantis’ office for comment have not yet been successful.

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