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http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/xp-161882
Gun sign fires up Boones Mill meeting
The Virginia Citizens Defense League joined in the discussion over
whether to bring firearms into town hall.
By Neil Harvey
981 -3349
[Picture of a gun on a hip removed.]
[Photo Credit] JEANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times
[Caption] Paul Henick, with the Virginia Citizens Defense League,
attends Tuesday's Boones Mill Town Council meeting with a holstered
handgun.
JEANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times
Paul Henick, with the Virginia Citizens Defense League, attends
Tuesday's Boones Mill Town Council meeting with a holstered handgun.
[Picture of the sign removed.]
[Photo Credit] EANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times
[Caption] Rephrased from a demand into a request, a sign outside
Boones Mill town hall asks that guns not be brought into the building.
JEANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times
Rephrased from a demand into a request, a sign outside Boones Mill
town hall asks that guns not be brought into the building.
A recently posted sign requesting that guns not be brought into
Boones Mill town hall sparked controversy at a town council meeting
Tuesday night -- and drew the attention of the Virginia Citizens
Defense League.
But, in the end, debate over the Second Amendment paled in comparison
to other, more personal issues, the likes of which have repeatedly
plagued the council's notoriously volatile meetings.
Last week, incumbent mayor E.V. "Ben" Flora won re-election over
challenger Robert Hogan by a vote of 40 to 38. Former council members
Hogan and his wife, Patricia, resigned their positions in March 2007
over the council's refusal to fire Police Chief and Town Manager Lynn
Frith, who had issued Robert Hogan a speeding ticket.
More recently, however, debate has been waged over a series of signs
first demanding, then requesting that weapons not be carried by those
attending meetings.
Frith said the first sign went up about a month ago after it was
approved at the last council meeting.
However, according to Mark Flynn, director of legal services for the
Virginia Municipal League, Virginia law prohibits a city or town from
banning guns in most public buildings or property, although there are
exceptions for schools, courthouses, jails and police stations.
The council eventually had the town's attorney draft a notice that
rephrased the demand as a request.
"We're just asking for people's cooperation," Frith said. "We've just
had citizens complain ... that they don't feel that firearms should
be in the town hall."
The sign came to the attention of Philip Van Cleave, president of the
Virginia Citizens Defense League. He attended Tuesday's meeting to
speak against it and said Robert Hogan had notified him of the sign
when it was first posted.
The current version of the sign, Van Cleave said, is "a different
animal," but he still feels it should be removed.
"I'm offended by that sign," he said. "If someone is frightened of an
inanimate object such as a gun, maybe that person should go see a
psychiatrist."
Robert Hogan, sporting an American flag necktie before the meeting,
carried a .38 caliber revolver in a holster under two layers of
clothing: his sport coat and dress shirt.
"I like to be inconspicuous," he explained. "I don't want to attract
attention that I have a gun on me. Although everybody within 100
yards knows I carry a gun."
Supporters of the VCDL crowded into Boones Mill's tiny town hall
wearing holstered handguns and blaze orange stickers that read, "GUNS
Save Lives."
During the council meeting -- which, by fire code, was limited to 30
people -- Van Cleave drew a connection between criminal awareness and
gun-free zones. He cited shootings at Virginia Tech last year and at
the city hall in Kirkwood, Mo., in February, and said gun access
could've prevented those situations.
Paul Henick of Richmond was one of three other VCDL members who
spoke, and he said the sign expressed a negative bias.
"You have judged me and determined I'm likely to cause discord
because I choose to carry a firearm," Henick said. "I must
strenuously object to your prejudice against me."
The only Boones Mill resident who argued in favor of keeping guns out
was Robert Ghirihghelli.
"I support your right to carry," he said, but offered that "a
weapon ... a machete ... an ax ... a gun ... might be intimidating. I
support your right. Respect the people who give you that right."
Henick hastened to object.
"No one gives me that right," he said.
But once the gun debate ended, matters became far more contentious.
Craig Drewry of Boones Mill voiced a concern that Flora, the newly
elected mayor, does not live in Boones Mill and contested his
residency, a requirement of the office. Flora insisted that he does
live in the town, but was told by Shannon Shepard of Franklin County
that he lives in a commercial building -- a violation of Virginia
code, she said. Shepard later identified herself as Robert and
Patricia Hogan's daughter, and she and Flora exchanged verbal jabs.
Flora told Shepard he intended to resolve the questions regarding his
residency, "and I'll do it just for you." Flora then addressed the
VCDL members, telling them, "You're here because one person wanted
you here for his own personal notion."
He said the council would make a decision regarding the sign soon.
Later, he apologized for the disruption and admitted, "We need to, as
a group, operate to better this town."
Toward the end of the meeting, John Pierce, an executive member of
the VCDL, remarked, "Usually when we show up at town council
meetings, we're the ones who cause the hullabaloo.
"You guys obviously still have issues to address, and I wish you the
best," he continued, then offered to give city council members free
gun safety lessons.
Staff writers Laurence Hammack and Mason Adams contributed to this
report.
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/xp-161882
Gun sign fires up Boones Mill meeting
The Virginia Citizens Defense League joined in the discussion over
whether to bring firearms into town hall.
By Neil Harvey
981 -3349
[Picture of a gun on a hip removed.]
[Photo Credit] JEANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times
[Caption] Paul Henick, with the Virginia Citizens Defense League,
attends Tuesday's Boones Mill Town Council meeting with a holstered
handgun.
JEANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times
Paul Henick, with the Virginia Citizens Defense League, attends
Tuesday's Boones Mill Town Council meeting with a holstered handgun.
[Picture of the sign removed.]
[Photo Credit] EANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times
[Caption] Rephrased from a demand into a request, a sign outside
Boones Mill town hall asks that guns not be brought into the building.
JEANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times
Rephrased from a demand into a request, a sign outside Boones Mill
town hall asks that guns not be brought into the building.
A recently posted sign requesting that guns not be brought into
Boones Mill town hall sparked controversy at a town council meeting
Tuesday night -- and drew the attention of the Virginia Citizens
Defense League.
But, in the end, debate over the Second Amendment paled in comparison
to other, more personal issues, the likes of which have repeatedly
plagued the council's notoriously volatile meetings.
Last week, incumbent mayor E.V. "Ben" Flora won re-election over
challenger Robert Hogan by a vote of 40 to 38. Former council members
Hogan and his wife, Patricia, resigned their positions in March 2007
over the council's refusal to fire Police Chief and Town Manager Lynn
Frith, who had issued Robert Hogan a speeding ticket.
More recently, however, debate has been waged over a series of signs
first demanding, then requesting that weapons not be carried by those
attending meetings.
Frith said the first sign went up about a month ago after it was
approved at the last council meeting.
However, according to Mark Flynn, director of legal services for the
Virginia Municipal League, Virginia law prohibits a city or town from
banning guns in most public buildings or property, although there are
exceptions for schools, courthouses, jails and police stations.
The council eventually had the town's attorney draft a notice that
rephrased the demand as a request.
"We're just asking for people's cooperation," Frith said. "We've just
had citizens complain ... that they don't feel that firearms should
be in the town hall."
The sign came to the attention of Philip Van Cleave, president of the
Virginia Citizens Defense League. He attended Tuesday's meeting to
speak against it and said Robert Hogan had notified him of the sign
when it was first posted.
The current version of the sign, Van Cleave said, is "a different
animal," but he still feels it should be removed.
"I'm offended by that sign," he said. "If someone is frightened of an
inanimate object such as a gun, maybe that person should go see a
psychiatrist."
Robert Hogan, sporting an American flag necktie before the meeting,
carried a .38 caliber revolver in a holster under two layers of
clothing: his sport coat and dress shirt.
"I like to be inconspicuous," he explained. "I don't want to attract
attention that I have a gun on me. Although everybody within 100
yards knows I carry a gun."
Supporters of the VCDL crowded into Boones Mill's tiny town hall
wearing holstered handguns and blaze orange stickers that read, "GUNS
Save Lives."
During the council meeting -- which, by fire code, was limited to 30
people -- Van Cleave drew a connection between criminal awareness and
gun-free zones. He cited shootings at Virginia Tech last year and at
the city hall in Kirkwood, Mo., in February, and said gun access
could've prevented those situations.
Paul Henick of Richmond was one of three other VCDL members who
spoke, and he said the sign expressed a negative bias.
"You have judged me and determined I'm likely to cause discord
because I choose to carry a firearm," Henick said. "I must
strenuously object to your prejudice against me."
The only Boones Mill resident who argued in favor of keeping guns out
was Robert Ghirihghelli.
"I support your right to carry," he said, but offered that "a
weapon ... a machete ... an ax ... a gun ... might be intimidating. I
support your right. Respect the people who give you that right."
Henick hastened to object.
"No one gives me that right," he said.
But once the gun debate ended, matters became far more contentious.
Craig Drewry of Boones Mill voiced a concern that Flora, the newly
elected mayor, does not live in Boones Mill and contested his
residency, a requirement of the office. Flora insisted that he does
live in the town, but was told by Shannon Shepard of Franklin County
that he lives in a commercial building -- a violation of Virginia
code, she said. Shepard later identified herself as Robert and
Patricia Hogan's daughter, and she and Flora exchanged verbal jabs.
Flora told Shepard he intended to resolve the questions regarding his
residency, "and I'll do it just for you." Flora then addressed the
VCDL members, telling them, "You're here because one person wanted
you here for his own personal notion."
He said the council would make a decision regarding the sign soon.
Later, he apologized for the disruption and admitted, "We need to, as
a group, operate to better this town."
Toward the end of the meeting, John Pierce, an executive member of
the VCDL, remarked, "Usually when we show up at town council
meetings, we're the ones who cause the hullabaloo.
"You guys obviously still have issues to address, and I wish you the
best," he continued, then offered to give city council members free
gun safety lessons.
Staff writers Laurence Hammack and Mason Adams contributed to this
report.