cuchulainn
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from the Rocky Mountain News
http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_2170116,00.html
http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_2170116,00.html
Springs council may reinstate firearms ban in city buildingsBy Michele Ames, Rocky Mountain News
August 9, 2003
Don Ortega is making a point.
But just what point he's making by carrying his shotgun into Colorado Springs City Council meetings depends largely on where you stand on gun rights and gun control.
In Colorado Springs, Ortega's point is forcing the City Council into a corner.
Council members voted only a few months ago to allow people to carry weapons openly in city parks and public buildings. Now they're poised to vote on Tuesday to reinstate the bans in City Hall and other city buildings.
"At the heart of this matter are individual rights - every individual's rights, not just pro-gun versus anti-gun proponents," wrote Colorado Springs City Manager Lorne Kramer in a letter to a local newspaper.
Ortega couldn't be reached for comment.
For many, his gun-toting behavior is simply a stunt. For others, he's exercising his constitutional rights. And for many others, Ortega is their worst fear realized since state lawmakers preempted local gun laws in favor of less restrictive state laws that allow the open carry of guns in most places, and the concealed carry of guns with a permit.
Denver, meanwhile, is already printing "No guns allowed" signs to post outside most of its public buildings.
Early this summer, former Mayor Wellington Webb called on the Denver City Council to pass an ordinance granting department heads the ability to post such signs.
The push to get it done in the next couple of weeks is on in the Denver Parks and Recreation Department, according to Marty Flahive, the department's interim deputy manager.
The signs will be laminated paper written in both Spanish and English and will be posted at or near the entrance to every city park, every city recreation center and all park administration buildings.
"We and many other people in local government aren't too thrilled with the state lawmakers that put us here," Flahive said. "But we're going to try and qualify as many properties as possible."
If the Colorado Springs Council votes for similar signs, it will be an about-face. One of the early actions members took when they were installed in April was to lift the citywide ban on carrying guns openly in city parks and public buildings.
That shift has some of the council members troubled.
"Basically, this man isn't doing anything illegal," said Councilman Randy Purvis. "He's carrying a long gun, and while it makes people uncomfortable, it's not illegal to possess a firearm."
In fact, Ortega isn't breaking any laws. Open carry is legal throughout Colorado unless elected officials post signs at the entrances of city-owned facilities, or unless the facility already has metal detectors.
And Ortega has the right to own a firearm because he has no felony convictions, the main reason officials can bar ownership.
Colorado Springs police checked Ortega out thoroughly last month when the first calls from stunned citizens watching him came in to the police department, according to Lt. Skip Arms, spokesman for the Colorado Springs Police Department.
Even council members who identify themselves as gun rights supporters are planning to vote in favor of the ban.
"What do we do to encourage people to be involved in city government when . . . they have to sit next to a guy with a gun on his lap?" asked Councilman Scott Hente. "To me, it's not a constitutional argument, it's a question of what's appropriate."
Richard Skorman, the lone self-described liberal councilman, is strongly in favor of the ban and would like to see it extended to parks and other public facilities, although he says he doesn't believe a broader proposal would pass.
Still, he sees the irony in state laws that require citizens to accept open carrying of guns in many places but allow elected officials to ban them from their workplace.
"I think it's hypocritical. Why should we create a situation where we're just protecting ourselves?" Skorman said. "People philosophically think there's a constitutional right. But they don't think about what it means if they've got their kids out for a hike and they run into some guy with a gun."
The issue is frustrating to both sides of the gun debate. Gun control supporters want the bans to go further and bar weapons from more places.
Gun rights advocates, who have been pushing for years for the recent changes, are frustrated at what they see as a "small step backward."
But they're unlikely to put pressure on City Council members to back off their plans to bar guns from city buildings. Bernie Herpin, president of the Pikes Peak Firearms Coalition, said his members are calling council members and "politely" explaining their opposition.
"We're opposed on principle to what they're doing, but I personally understand why they're doing it," Herpin said. "The new City Council has been so supportive of our rights, I hate to take them on over this."
The Colorado Springs City Council voted not to join Denver in a lawsuit against the state, in which it argues state laws cannot pre-empt city gun laws.
Attorneys for the state have filed to have the case dismissed, but no ruling has been made.
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2003 © The E.W. Scripps Co.
