For those familiar with the saga of Castle Rock, Colorado, which I am guessing might be 0.97% of Daily Kos readers, there's been a new development on the Open Carry front.
For those not familiar who want to get up to speed, or if you want a refresher:
http://norepealcastlerock.com/...
And, below, Castle Rock is part of a larger Colorado review story:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
http://www.dailykos.com/...
If you have followed the story of this exurban conservative town about 40 miles south of Denver, you will remember that the morning after the gun-lobby influenced city council voted to overturn the city's open carry ban (allowing open carry in public parks and public buildings) a citizen's group sprang into action to begin pushing for a ballot referendum to keep the open carry ban in place.
Well, good news, about two hours ago that group announced it has succeeded in its first step — they got the necessary 2,500 signatures to suspend the open carry repeal (which was scheduled to take effect tomorrow at 5 pm) until citizens can decide the issue by a vote, as long as the signatures are approved by the Town Clerk's office.
From the "No Repeal Castle Rock" Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/...):
Thanks to all the kind citizens of Castle Rock, friends and neighbors who helped gather signatures and spread the word. It is only through you that our referendum petition was supported by 2,657 signatures. Stay tuned as we await a decision on this matter.
The next steps are validating the signatures and if that hurdle is cleared, finalizing the referendum language and scheduling a vote.
Congrats to Castle Rock.
But, there is an interesting twist to this story - more on that below.
It turns out that about two weeks ago, Douglass County — of which Castle Rock is a part of — also repealed an open carry ban. According to this story, it did so with much less fanfare than Castle Rock:
County spokeswoman Wendy Holmes said it is her understanding that the decision to repeal was made because the county hasn’t had a problem with open carry — and it’s “an individual liberty that our commissioners believe is extremely important.”
Also, the county’s practice wasn’t consistent with state law, which requires that where open carry is prohibited, signs must be posted. Only the fairgrounds had a sign outlawing open carry and that sign is now gone. Another sign, removed recently from the Philip S. Miller building where the commissioners meet, didn’t refer to firearms — just prohibited knives, explosives and martial arts weapons, Holmes said.
The open-carry item — along with several others dealing with rules on county properties — was unanimously approved Dec. 17 as a consent agenda item. Holmes said there would have been opportunity for public comment if a member of the public had seen it on the consent agenda and requested that it be removed from the consent agenda. That didn’t happen.
I am not sure what legal friction (if any) might pop up between county and city jurisdictions over open carry issues — for example, does a county's rules supersede a cities? Vice-versa?
The Douglass Country Sheriff supported the repeal of the open carry ban. He also is one of more than 50 Colorado Sheriffs attempting in court to overturn the state's newly enacted gun reforms from the 2013 legislative session — fat chance, if you ask me.
“As the Sheriff of Douglas County, I want you to know I support the repeal to ban open carry in Castle Rock. Even though each city and town (for example, town council) is responsible for enforcing and upholding their own ordinances, I do have an opinion on such matters.
“I do not though have the right to communicate to a town or city what they may or may not do or can or cannot do. As your Sheriff, my department and I are strictly responsible for the unincorporated areas of Douglas County only. We are responsible to enforce the laws that are passed for the county and the citizens in that county. The current ordinance that is in place to ban open carry in certain areas of Castle Rock (buildings, parks, trails, etc.) which is where the conversation started is not something I agree with and I definitely support the decision to repeal the ban altogether.
“It is also important to note that in the unincorporated areas of Douglas County where I am the Sheriff, parks, trails and open space, open carry is permissible. Open carry is also allowed in county buildings with the exception of the justice center and a few places where it says `no weapons.’ As your current Sheriff, I will continue to support the Constitution and uphold my oath to the office I represent.”
http://highlandsranchherald.staging.communityq.com/...
If nothing else, it will be interesting to follow the efforts of this band of gun fighters in Castle Rock.
Stay tuned.
Thu Feb 27, 2014 at 6:35 AM PT: Another important point that frames this story: the city council originally voted to 5-1 to keep the ban in place in Sept. 2013:
"The 5-1 vote — with Councilmember Joe Procopio absent — came after a majority of about 17 residents and business owners speaking on the issue opposed the idea of open-carry in town buildings, as did a majority of town employees polled. It also followed a report that the town’s public safety commission, which advises the town council on police and fire matters, had voted at a past commission meeting to recommend keeping the prohibition.
The council’s vote was to direct town staff to do some light housekeeping and create clearer wording in a new prohibition ordinance that would give the council full authority on imposing the ban. Wording is to be taken out that has the town manager, not town council, directing the posting of notifications regarding firearms prohibition."
http://castlerocknewspress.net/...
So, the town council in Sept. 2013 voted 5-1 against repealing the ban, and left it to the town manager to "clean up the wording" and then poof it turned into a campaign to overturn the ban and the state gun lobby got involved and poured money into that campaign.
So, in effect, you have a legislative decision that the gun lobby didn't like and then a "recall-like" campaign to overturn it. In essence, it's the same thing the gun lobby did in Pueblo and Colorado Springs to Democrats who voted for gun safety legislation - they didn't like the vote, so they abused the recall system. In Castle Rock, the gun lobby didn't like the vote, and so it abused the process - rammed it through even though the people were going to have a chance to voice their opinion through elections in April 2014. And council members were stuck between a rock and hard place - another no vote and the mayor would sick the gun lobby on them in their reelection bid. But it seems they may not get away with it this time.
Another note - Castle Rock is holding city council elections in April with 3 of 7 members up for election. This vote might make an interesting bellwether for the November elections. Castle Rock is a conservative town that voted for Romney by 60+ percent.