Chesterfield Parks & Rec ?

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So we're renting a shelter at Ironbridge Park for my son's birthday, and we get the rental permit in the mail yesterday. I start reading it and what do I see under conditions of use?

"No Alcoholic Beverages, Illegal Substances, and Firearms shall be brought or consumed on Park Properties. Any person believed to be Intoxicated, under the Influence of Illegal Substances, or Bearing Firearms shall be Excluded from the Property."

I was under the assumption that statewide preemption would keep the local gov'ts from being able to prohibit legally carried firearms on public property (or something like that - why I'm asking!) OR, since we are paying to rent the facility, does that throw this into a different category.

One of my reasons for throwing this out there is at one point in the past we had discussed holding an OC Picnic and this park was one of the mentioned places. I'd prefer not to have another Burke incident!:what: It wouldn't take long at all for the chopper to show up since the airport is across the street.

At this point I have no intentions of cancelling the reservation because my son really wants this for his birthday. Basically we've traded a day outside at the park in lieu of the Nintendo DS he wanted - that I can not argue with.

Thanks for any help/advise on this one.

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You are correct, they cant ban that.

Parks and Rec people generally arent too aware of preemption stuff so go easy on them when you stick it to them


ETA - I may have a way to take care of this for the future. Let me see what I can do.

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Just made a phone call, this will be addressed today.

stand by for details....

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sitedzn wrote:

So we're renting a shelter at Ironbridge Park for my son's birthday, and we get the rental permit in the mail yesterday. I start reading it and what do I see under conditions of use?

"No Alcoholic Beverages, Illegal Substances, and Firearms shall be brought or consumed on Park Properties. Any person believed to be Intoxicated, under the Influence of Illegal Substances, or Bearing Firearms shall be Excluded from the Property."

I was under the assumption that statewide preemption would keep the local gov'ts from being able to prohibit legally carried firearms on public property (or something like that - why I'm asking!) OR, since we are paying to rent the facility, does that throw this into a different category.

One of my reasons for throwing this out there is at one point in the past we had discussed holding an OC Picnic and this park was one of the mentioned places. I'd prefer not to have another Burke incident!:what: It wouldn't take long at all for the chopper to show up since the airport is across the street.

At this point I have no intentions of cancelling the reservation because my son really wants this for his birthday. Basically we've traded a day outside at the park in lieu of the Nintendo DS he wanted - that I can not argue with.

Thanks for any help/advise on this one.

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Lucas,

John Pierce supplied me with the following letter template that I modified for use when i noticed Goochland County Parks had weapons prohibitted signs. The signs were removed very quickly after sending the letter to the county attorney. Just fill in the appropriate terms like Board of Supervisors in place of Town Council etc.

July 17, 2008]


Town Attorney Roger Brooks

552A E Main St
Independence,VA 24348


Dear Mr. Brooks:

Recently it was brought to my attention that there is a “no-guns” sign at the entrance to the Independence Town Offices complex. However, Virginia’s preemption statute (as amended in 2004) does not allow lawfully carried firearms to be prohibited in any public buildings that are not courthouses, detention facilities or K-12 schools.

[size=During the 2004 legislative session, the Virginia General Assembly passed]HB 530 [/i]which preempted the entire field of firearms controls to the state and made any local restrictions already in place impotent (including administrative actions such as posting signage). This change went into effect on July 1[suP]st[/suP], 2004. The preemption statute as modified in 2004 reads (with the relevant text emphasized):

§ 15.2-915 (Control of firearms; applicability to authorities and local governmental agencies)……………..
[/b]A[/b]. No locality shall adopt or enforce[/b] any ordinance, resolution or motion, as permitted by § 15.2-1425, and no agent of such locality shall take any administrative action, governing the purchase, possession, transfer, ownership, carrying, storage or transporting of firearms, ammunition, or components or combination thereof other than those expressly authorized by statute.[/i][/b] For purposes of this section, a statute that does not refer to firearms, ammunition, or components or combination thereof, shall not be construed to provide express authorization. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a locality from adopting workplace rules relating to terms and conditions of employment of the workforce. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a law-enforcement officer, as defined in § 9.1-101 from acting within the scope of his duties.
The provisions of this section applicable to a locality shall also apply to any authority or to a local governmental entity, including a department or agency, but not including any local or regional jail or juvenile detention facility.

B[/b]. Any local ordinance, resolution or motion adopted prior to the effective date of this act governing the purchase, possession, transfer, ownership, carrying, storage or transporting of firearms, ammunition, or components or combination thereof, other than those expressly authorized by statute, is invalid.[/b] [/b]

Although this change to the Code of Virginia renders the sign impotent, simply leaving it in place will provide an environment that will be conducive to error and misunderstanding by both local law enforcement and the law-abiding citizen.

I would like to request that you and the distinguished members of the Town Council do the right thing and act to have this improper signage removed. If this is not something that is able to be accomplished outside a Town Council meeting, I will be happy to attend an upcoming meeting and voice my concerns.

Please feel free to contact me at any time to discuss this matter. Thank you for your service to our community. I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

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Nice letter

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It seems that P&R was using up some old forms with that language on it. I'm told that their online form contains no language prohibiting firearms. They have been advised to use a more recent form which doesnt prohibit firearms.

Counties buy forms by the truckload and they HATE to waste something so its understandable that they were using all of their old stock first. I'm sure that the person who mails those permits out has no idea about preemption and was only just using an old form.

In any event, its been addressed without too much fuss. Sometimes knowing someone to call makes itan easy fix.

Jim

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Thanks guys. At this point I didn't have any intentions of carrying on my person as I'd be playing with 15 or so 5 and 6 year olds. However, knowing how the BB courts can get at that park, backup was going to be close by at all times.

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sitedzn wrote:

Thanks guys. At this point I didn't have any intentions of carrying on my person as I'd be playing with 15 or so 5 and 6 year olds. However, knowing how the BB courts can get at that park, backup was going to be close by at all times.

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Good deal...now you can enjoy the party w/o having to worry about those silly rules.

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ProShooter wrote:

It seems that P&R was using up some old forms with that language on it. I'm told that their online form contains no language prohibiting firearms. They have been advised to use a more recent form which doesnt prohibit firearms.

Counties buy forms by the truckload and they HATE to waste something so its understandable that they were using all of their old stock first. I'm sure that the person who mails those permits out has no idea about preemption and was only just using an old form.

In any event, its been addressed without too much fuss. Sometimes knowing someone to call makes itan easy fix.

Jim

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ProShooter did a good one. :exclaim:

stay safe.

skidmark

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Good work, ProShooter!

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twernt nothin'.......just knew the right person to call in this case. Someone with enough "county clout" to get the job done efficiently and effectively....

Jim

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"I love it when a plan comes together." Especially when it rights a wrong. Good job.

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ProShooter wrote:

It seems that P&R was using up some old forms with that language on it. I'm told that their online form contains no language prohibiting firearms. They have been advised to use a more recent form which doesnt prohibit firearms.

Counties buy forms by the truckload and they HATE to waste something so its understandable that they were using all of their old stock first. I'm sure that the person who mails those permits out has no idea about preemption and was only just using an old form.

In any event, its been addressed without too much fuss. Sometimes knowing someone to call makes itan easy fix.

Jim

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This seems about right:

Picnic Shelters

Picnic shelters are available in these parks: Ettrick, Goyne, Harrowgate, Huguenot, Daniel Park at Iron Bridge, R. Garland Dodd Park at Point of Rocks, Rockwood, Robious Landing. Reservation fees are based on the length of time reserved and range from $45 - $95. Reservations must be made at least two weeks in advance. Call (804)751-4696 for information. Download Shelter Reservation form