A resolution calling for greater state and federal gun control measures failed Monday, but not for lack of support. Sarasota City Commissioners backed off a call for limiting access to military-style weapons after city attorneys looked into a state law that seemingly prohibits local jurisdictions from even weighing in on regulations surrounding gun rights. “It seems very wrong that we can’t even have a conversation,” says Sarasota City Commissioner Liz Alpert. “We can’t discuss common sense gun laws. We can’t work together and see if we can figure out a balance between the two.”

The resolution was shot down 4-1, with Commissioner Suzanne Attwell the sole vote in favor. “I appreciate convictions,” Attwell says. “I wish there was more courage to bring it forward.” The resolution, drafted by City Manager Tom Barwin, called for state and federal authorities to “limit military-grade, high-capacity magazine weapons to bona fide law enforcement agencies.” The resolution came after a mass shooting at an Orlando night club where 50 were killed, including Sarasota victim Edward Sotomayor.

City Attorney Robert Fournier says the resolution did not govern the sale or ownership or weapons, so it did not violate a state law preventing the regulation of weapons, but upon study of the statute, he worried the resolution would expose commissioners to legal risk if passed because of a broad provision allowing third parties to sue if their rights are pre-empted. “The legislature was trying to come down hard on it,” he says, noting a potential for a $5,000 civil penalty, one that cannot be covered by public dollars, on elected or appointed officials, who stray on the law. Fournier says there is no legal precedent on how the 2011 law should be enforced. Commissioner Susan Chapman says the city should pursue an Attorney General’s Opinion offering guidance on the matter, and if that opinion does not suggest the city resolution would violate statute, she would be “more than willing to put this back on the agenda.”

The resolution has incited lively discussion on the matter, and most of the participants broadly debated the appropriateness of gun control legislation. Carol Rescigno with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence asked city commissioners on Monday to pass the resolution, labeling it “a start” in preventing further mass shootings. Founding fathers wrote, “we are endowed with certain unalienable rights. The first of those is life.” But state Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, says citizens need the right to arms for self-defense. “Did the law preventing guns in bars prevent the terrorist from walking into a nightclub and killing 49 people?” he says in an email. “No, it only prevented law-abiding citizens from defending themselves.”