Sunday, May 18, 2008
Editorial: Guns and council meetings don't mix
Localities should have the authority to prohibit weapons in council chambers.
From the RoundTable blog
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A bunch of people packed heat at a recent Boones Mill Town Council meeting, but it wasn't a sign that the political feud there had escalated to Hatfield-McCoy levels.
The gun-carrying crowd was simply demonstrating its displeasure over a sign that council had put up asking people not to bring weapons into town hall.
Actually, the initial sign prohibited weapons in town hall, but council was informed it didn't have that authority.
State law prohibits guns in schools, courthouses and churches, but doesn't allow local governments to prohibit them on other public property -- not even council chambers.
This law should be changed. As the residents of Boones Mill know so well, council meetings can get emotional. Tempers flare. And not just in particularly dysfunctional places like Boones Mill.
In 2006, an irate city employee shouted at Roanoke City Council members, "I can and I will have you shot."
The year before, a citizen had to be forcibly removed because of his angry outburst.
There's no good reason to add guns to that mix.
Doing so has resulted in tragedy elsewhere.
In February, a man who had long tangled with the Kirkwood, Mo., City Council brought a gun to a meeting and killed five people and then himself.
Last year, a business owner in Clarksville, Tenn., shot himself after the council there turned down a zoning request.
Yes, people can and will ignore signs prohibiting weapons. Guns weren't allowed in the Kirkwood council chambers, after all.
But those who suggest that such tragedies could be prevented if more people are armed should know that the Kirkwood gunman killed two armed police officers.
Laws or city ordinances prohibiting weapons at council meetings won't keep out someone bent on mayhem. But they can make sure that outbursts of the kind seen all too often during contentious meetings don't escalate to something far worse.
Boones Mill is still wrestling with what to do about its sign -- along with a lot of other issues. But the General Assembly should give it and other localities the authority to ban weapons from meeting rooms if they choose.
