|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
At the end of September, our allegedly Democratic
governor, Mark Warner, caved in to the NRA and other gun lobbies and
supported a ruling by Attorney General Jerry Kilgore that would allow gun
owners with permits to carry concealed weapons in the state’s 34 publicly
owned parks. This ruling effectively nullified a ban on such shenanigans
issued by the Department of Conservation and Recreation and further enhanced
Virginia’s reputation as a state where packing heat is de rigueur. According to Kilgore, no state
agency has the legal authority to issue such regulations, which lie solely in
the purview of the General Assembly. Though understandably overjoyed
at the decision, the Virginia Citizens Defense League, an oxymoronically
named gun lobby, reportedly is not willing to let the matter drop there.
According to an article in the September 26 issue of the Daily Press, the
League will now target local ordinances that prohibit carrying firearms in
municipal parks, playgrounds and recreation centers. The city of Hampton has
evidently already acceded to the League’s wishes, and Isle of Wight, which
prohibits guns on the grounds of public schools or in public parks, is
probably next on the hit list. The hurdle faced by localities
that wish to protect their citizens from gun violence in playgrounds,
recreation centers or anywhere else is the antiquated Dillon Rule. Unlike
other states, which give their municipalities great leeway in issuing local
firearm ordinances, Virginia either requires that such laws be approved by
the General Assembly, or forbids them outright. Hence, though James City might
like to prohibit the toting of guns in Mid or Upper County Park, on its
soccer fields, or at the Community Center, it cannot do so. Indeed, according
to James City’s Deputy County Attorney, Leo Rogers, the county can mimic
state law in this regard, but it does not have the authority to pass
ordinances which differ from it. Indeed, this past July the
General Assembly added to the code just such a prohibition (15.2-915). Under
this law, no locality may adopt any ordinance governing the purchase of
possession of firearms. And no person may be prosecuted or convicted of a
violation of any ordinance regulating the transporting of a firearm, if he is
in lawful possession of a firearm and has a concealed handgun permit. Only
ordinances passed prior to 1987, when such laws were allowed in localities,
are exempt from this latest attempt to extend gun privileges in the state. As a result, the only
regulation that James City or Williamsburg might pass in this regard is to
prohibit its employees from bringing firearms to work. Hence, while the
locker room at the rec center or the sidelines at the soccer field might be filled
with pistol packers, those in authority at these places would be completely
at the mercy of their clientele. And
what sense does that make? In fact, the only sites that
are completely out of bounds to those who carry guns, knives, or any other
weapons are the public schools. And it is only with regard to public school
property that municipalities may pass ordinances forbidding the transport of
guns, concealed or not. Presumably our facile General
Assembly has bitten the bullet and come to the conclusion that the protection of children and young
people ranks a notch above the all- encompassing right to bear arms in
Virginia. So they will deign to keep guns and knives out of the classroom.
Yet this is legislative minimalism at its worst. According to Ned Cheely,
director of the Williamsburg/James
City Parks and Recreation Department, 600-700 of these same children who
attend our protected public schools take part in the summer camp program
offered by his department. And they spend most of their time in county parks,
playgrounds and at the Community Center pool. Even more participate in the
after school program run by Parks and Recreation, and again use the same
facilities. Yet, thanks to the General
Assembly’s bizarre gun law philosophy, our children, once they leave the
schoolroom, evidently have no more right to protection from guns than the
rest of us. And this despite the fact that they’re participating in highly
popular programs run by the very governmental entity that operates and protects
the schools. This, I submit, is convoluted,
contradictory and dangerous logic, if it is logic at all. Yet it is a logic
that we all have blithely accepted as law, and it is the same logic to which
the Citizens Defense League will appeal when it takes aim at our municipal
parks, playgrounds, and recreation centers. When will we awaken to the fact
that guns do not belong around children and young people, whether they be in
the classroom or involved in recreational activities? Will there ever be a
straw that breaks the camel’s back in this constant deferral to the gun
lobbies in Virginia? Probably not.
Yet events of the past few weeks should be a strong warning to us all of the
of the dangers that are abroad while we slumber. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
lewleadbeater.com Copyright 2002 All Rights Reserved
email: LWL@lewleadbeater.com |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||