http://www.msnbc.com/local/csg/m297147.asp?vts=52020031234&cp1=1
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Laws reverse long-held prohibitions in Springs
By ED SEALOVER THE GAZETTE
May 20 - The guy sitting next to you at next week's Colorado Springs City Council meeting might be packing heat.
Even if you see the bulge of a gun under his shoulder, you can't report him to authorities because it won't be illegal.
Two pieces of legislation signed this month by Gov. Bill Owens say cities must allow concealed weapons in parks and most public buildings. Although the Colorado Springs City Attorney's Office is working on rewriting city code that conflicts with this, the new rules are being enforced.
That means anyone who obtains a concealed weapons permit from the El Paso County Sheriff's Office can bring their holstered and hidden gun into City Hall. Or they can tote it into any of the city's parks. Some areas still are off-limits. You can't bring a gun onto school grounds. You can't take it into buildings such as Memorial Hospital that have weapons-detection devices and places to store permitted concealed weapons. But the rule does reverse long-held city prohibitions, not just on guns in public places but in private automobiles and taxis as well. Still, most council members said they are fine with this.
"I think it's OK personally because some of those ordinances were impossible to enforce anyway until after the fact," Councilman Larry Small said.
"The criminal element we're so concerned with isn't going to pay attention to those, and the people with permits are well trained."
The Sheriff's Office has approved 7,582 concealed weapons permits since it began issuing them in 1995.
It has revoked 117 of them because the person was not an area resident as they claimed or because they committed a crime, sheriff's Lt. Melissa Hartman said. None of the revocations had anything to do with improper use of weapons.
The City Council recently discussed whether to team with Denver to sue the state, saying it is legislating a matter that should be left up to cities.
Three council members wanted to: Vice Mayor Richard Skorman, Jerry Heimlicher and Randy Purvis. Heimlicher and Purvis said they don't object to the new laws but to the state taking away municipalities' home-rule powers.
The council also discussed installing metal detectors at City Hall.
But after City Manager Lorne Kramer said it would cost $500,000, no one pushed the plan.
Sid Reade, security administrator for Colorado Springs Utilities, said the city-owned utility still is examining whether to put up metal detectors in some of its buildings.
The law does not allow anyone carrying weapons to display them to others in a menacing way.
City residents must show photo identification and sign in when entering City Hall.
Councilman Tom Gallagher isn't worried about the relaxed gun rules.
"I look at it this way: I have no reason to fear law-abiding citizens, and criminals don't obey the law," he said. "So it does nothing to change the matrix."
CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0184 or [email protected]
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Laws reverse long-held prohibitions in Springs
By ED SEALOVER THE GAZETTE
May 20 - The guy sitting next to you at next week's Colorado Springs City Council meeting might be packing heat.
Even if you see the bulge of a gun under his shoulder, you can't report him to authorities because it won't be illegal.
Two pieces of legislation signed this month by Gov. Bill Owens say cities must allow concealed weapons in parks and most public buildings. Although the Colorado Springs City Attorney's Office is working on rewriting city code that conflicts with this, the new rules are being enforced.
That means anyone who obtains a concealed weapons permit from the El Paso County Sheriff's Office can bring their holstered and hidden gun into City Hall. Or they can tote it into any of the city's parks. Some areas still are off-limits. You can't bring a gun onto school grounds. You can't take it into buildings such as Memorial Hospital that have weapons-detection devices and places to store permitted concealed weapons. But the rule does reverse long-held city prohibitions, not just on guns in public places but in private automobiles and taxis as well. Still, most council members said they are fine with this.
"I think it's OK personally because some of those ordinances were impossible to enforce anyway until after the fact," Councilman Larry Small said.
"The criminal element we're so concerned with isn't going to pay attention to those, and the people with permits are well trained."
The Sheriff's Office has approved 7,582 concealed weapons permits since it began issuing them in 1995.
It has revoked 117 of them because the person was not an area resident as they claimed or because they committed a crime, sheriff's Lt. Melissa Hartman said. None of the revocations had anything to do with improper use of weapons.
The City Council recently discussed whether to team with Denver to sue the state, saying it is legislating a matter that should be left up to cities.
Three council members wanted to: Vice Mayor Richard Skorman, Jerry Heimlicher and Randy Purvis. Heimlicher and Purvis said they don't object to the new laws but to the state taking away municipalities' home-rule powers.
The council also discussed installing metal detectors at City Hall.
But after City Manager Lorne Kramer said it would cost $500,000, no one pushed the plan.
Sid Reade, security administrator for Colorado Springs Utilities, said the city-owned utility still is examining whether to put up metal detectors in some of its buildings.
The law does not allow anyone carrying weapons to display them to others in a menacing way.
City residents must show photo identification and sign in when entering City Hall.
Councilman Tom Gallagher isn't worried about the relaxed gun rules.
"I look at it this way: I have no reason to fear law-abiding citizens, and criminals don't obey the law," he said. "So it does nothing to change the matrix."
CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0184 or [email protected]
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