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Activists rally ’round open-carry heroine
By ANDREA JOHNSON
Staff Writer
Lebanon Daily News
Meleanie Hain is greeted by a thicket of cameras, microphones and reporters as she emerges from the Lebanon County courthouse yesterday after a hearing in which her permit to carry a concealed weapon was restored. (John Latimer / Lebanon Daily News)
Gun-rights activists who traveled to Lebanon from as far away as Pittsburgh in support of Second-Amendment poster girl Meleanie Hain said it was worth the trip.
A group of two dozen supporters applauded and cheered when Lebanon County President Judge Robert J. Eby announced his decision yesterday to restore Meleanie Hain’s concealed-weapons permit during a hearing at the Lebanon municipal building.
“I wasn’t surprised,” 37-year-old Greg Rotz of Chambersburg said of Eby’s ruling.
Rotz organized the gathering of advocates who support the open carrying of handguns as a peaceful show of support for Hain.
Rotz faced similar charges after he wore a sidearm to his voting precinct on Election Day last
David Rothschild (left) of Ambler turns over his gun to Sgt. Ferdy Sammer of the county sheriff s department and security worker Marlin Long so he may enter the courthouse yesterday. (Gordon Oliver / Lebanon Daily News)November, later receiving a letter from the Franklin County sheriff demanding that he turn over his handgun. He appealed the decision and was vindicated in January when a judge threw out the case.
Yesterday in support of Hain, there were no signs or loud protests outside the courthouse. Instead, supporters merely carried their guns openly as the law permits. Dozens of people wore pins that read “I support Meleanie Hain. Enforce the law, not personal opinion.”
County Sheriff Mike DeLeo revoked Hain’s concealed-weapons permit after parents complained about her openly wearing her gun to her 5-year-old daughter’s soccer game last month. Hain appealed, prompting yesterday’s hearing.
During yesterday’s testimony, Rotz said that when DeLeo was asked at what point he thought Hain was dangerous while wearing the gun at the soccer game, he “didn’t seem to want to answer questions directly. ... It seemed like the sheriff didn’t want to commit to facts that justified his actions.”
Rotz, who carries a .45-caliber handgun “over 90 percent of the time,” was joined by Rich Banks, founder of the Web site paopencarry.org, who traveled here from Mountaintop, Luzerne County.
“I see a lot of people who react to open carry the way they’d react to anything that’s new,” Banks said. “I think that was what we were dealing with at the soccer game. Hopefully, people have a better understanding of it.”
Banks said that Eby concluded that the case wasn’t an issue of what is legal but whether Hain posed a safety risk to the public.
“He didn’t think Hain was a danger to the public safety,” Banks said.
Erik Paul of North Lebanon Township said he was happy with the judge’s ruling.
“Eby could not have put it better,” Paul said. “I wouldn’t personally have carried it openly to a kids’ soccer game, but the law doesn’t differentiate where you can and can’t carry. It just says the rights of citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves shall not be questioned. ... I like when he (Eby) said ‘we are not enemies.’”
Another open-carry advocate, Jim Fellner of Hanover, said there was no due process for revocation of Hain’s permit.
“I think (DeLeo) was just trying to make a statement. I think he was trying to make an example out of her. I’ve never had issues in Hanover,” Fellner said.
Bob Hlavaty of Lebanon echoed Fellner’s opinion and said he believes the revocation of Hain’s permit was “half political.”
“I believe the sheriff had to do something and didn’t know what to do,” he said.
AndreaJohnson@LDNews.com
--
http://www.ldnews.com/lebanonnews/ci_10726119
Judge returns Hain’s permit
By JOHN LATIMER
Staff Writer
Lebanon Daily News
If the law didn’t matter, Lebanon County Judge Robert J. Eby might not have given Meleanie Hain her concealed-weapons permit back yesterday.
But civil rights ultimately trumped moral “right versus wrong,” Eby said, when he ruled that her license to carry a concealed weapon was improperly revoked after she openly wore her loaded and holstered handgun to her 5-year-old daughter’s soccer game last month.
“Society is replacing right versus wrong with legal versus illegal,” Eby said when he announced his ruling yesterday. “They are not the same thing. They never were, and it is my hope they never will be. There are times when someone’s conduct may be perfectly legal, but it is still wrong.”
Eby delivered his ruling at a hearing convened after Hain and her attorney, Robert Magee of Allentown, appealed Sheriff Mike DeLeo’s revocation of her permit. DeLeo made the decision after a parent complained about Hain wearing her Glock 26 during the soccer game on Sept. 11 at Optimist Park in Lebanon.
During testimony in response to questions from Magee and George Christianson, the solicitor for the county sheriff’s office, DeLeo steadfastly held to his belief that Hain posed a public danger and, therefore, his revocation of her license was justified.
“She carried a weapon on her right hip at a soccer field in the presence of many children ages 5- and 6-years-old, and also the general public — the parents and grandparents of these children,” DeLeo said. “At that time I felt she was a danger to the public safety. ... The very fact she is carrying a weapon — that in itself could inspire a riot.”
The danger would not have been as great if the weapon had been concealed because the crowd would not have been upset, DeLeo said.
When Hain was questioned by both attorneys and Eby, she explained that she routinely carries her gun.
“I was certainly not looking to shoot anybody over a goal,” she said. “I carry it everywhere.”
Hain claimed she always wears a firearm because her husband has a job in a law-enforcement field — which she refused to specify — that could possibly put her and her children at risk. Concealing the weapon, especially in the summer, is uncomfortable and slows her reaction time on the draw, which also makes her feel less safe, she said.
“I feel I’m a greater target than the wife of a grocery-store owner,” said the 30-year-old who has three children.
At the conclusion of the testimony, Eby lectured Hain, who listened quietly.
“Even if you felt the need (to be armed), there was an alternative for you to carry it concealed without causing the ire and intimidation to those people,” he said.
The matter was not a Second Amendment issue regarding the right to bear arms, said Eby, who acknowledged being a gun owner himself.
“There’s no question we all have rights under the Second Amendment,” he said. “But with these rights come responsibilities. ... There are limitations on what rights you have, and there has to be a balancing. ... A balance between the rule of law and common sense.”
Eby’s message was equally directed at the two dozen open-carry supporters who wore their weapons to the courthouse yesterday, only to turn them in to security guards at the door.
They sat quietly during the 90-minute hearing, breaking into applause only after the court had been called out of session.
After the hearing Hain said she would continue wearing her sidearm, even at her kids’ soccer games.
“He referenced the First Amendment, and he absolutely has the right to do that. ... And I have a right to my Second Amendment,” she said.
Magee said he was pleased by Eby’s ruling.
The national and international coverage that Hain’s case attracted may turn out to be a good thing for open-carry advocates, Magee said, because it will help educate the public as well as law-enforcement officials.
And the attention may not die down anytime soon, he added.
“We’ve already been contacted by Dr. Phil, and Dan Rather wants to interview us,” Magee said after the hearing.
JohnLatimer@ldnews.com
http://www.ldnews.com/lebanonnews/ci_10726125
http://www.ldnews.com/lebanonnews/ci_10726125
Activists rally ’round open-carry heroine
By ANDREA JOHNSON
Staff Writer
Lebanon Daily News
Meleanie Hain is greeted by a thicket of cameras, microphones and reporters as she emerges from the Lebanon County courthouse yesterday after a hearing in which her permit to carry a concealed weapon was restored. (John Latimer / Lebanon Daily News)
Gun-rights activists who traveled to Lebanon from as far away as Pittsburgh in support of Second-Amendment poster girl Meleanie Hain said it was worth the trip.
A group of two dozen supporters applauded and cheered when Lebanon County President Judge Robert J. Eby announced his decision yesterday to restore Meleanie Hain’s concealed-weapons permit during a hearing at the Lebanon municipal building.
“I wasn’t surprised,” 37-year-old Greg Rotz of Chambersburg said of Eby’s ruling.
Rotz organized the gathering of advocates who support the open carrying of handguns as a peaceful show of support for Hain.
Rotz faced similar charges after he wore a sidearm to his voting precinct on Election Day last
David Rothschild (left) of Ambler turns over his gun to Sgt. Ferdy Sammer of the county sheriff s department and security worker Marlin Long so he may enter the courthouse yesterday. (Gordon Oliver / Lebanon Daily News)November, later receiving a letter from the Franklin County sheriff demanding that he turn over his handgun. He appealed the decision and was vindicated in January when a judge threw out the case.
Yesterday in support of Hain, there were no signs or loud protests outside the courthouse. Instead, supporters merely carried their guns openly as the law permits. Dozens of people wore pins that read “I support Meleanie Hain. Enforce the law, not personal opinion.”
County Sheriff Mike DeLeo revoked Hain’s concealed-weapons permit after parents complained about her openly wearing her gun to her 5-year-old daughter’s soccer game last month. Hain appealed, prompting yesterday’s hearing.
During yesterday’s testimony, Rotz said that when DeLeo was asked at what point he thought Hain was dangerous while wearing the gun at the soccer game, he “didn’t seem to want to answer questions directly. ... It seemed like the sheriff didn’t want to commit to facts that justified his actions.”
Rotz, who carries a .45-caliber handgun “over 90 percent of the time,” was joined by Rich Banks, founder of the Web site paopencarry.org, who traveled here from Mountaintop, Luzerne County.
“I see a lot of people who react to open carry the way they’d react to anything that’s new,” Banks said. “I think that was what we were dealing with at the soccer game. Hopefully, people have a better understanding of it.”
Banks said that Eby concluded that the case wasn’t an issue of what is legal but whether Hain posed a safety risk to the public.
“He didn’t think Hain was a danger to the public safety,” Banks said.
Erik Paul of North Lebanon Township said he was happy with the judge’s ruling.
“Eby could not have put it better,” Paul said. “I wouldn’t personally have carried it openly to a kids’ soccer game, but the law doesn’t differentiate where you can and can’t carry. It just says the rights of citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves shall not be questioned. ... I like when he (Eby) said ‘we are not enemies.’”
Another open-carry advocate, Jim Fellner of Hanover, said there was no due process for revocation of Hain’s permit.
“I think (DeLeo) was just trying to make a statement. I think he was trying to make an example out of her. I’ve never had issues in Hanover,” Fellner said.
Bob Hlavaty of Lebanon echoed Fellner’s opinion and said he believes the revocation of Hain’s permit was “half political.”
“I believe the sheriff had to do something and didn’t know what to do,” he said.
AndreaJohnson@LDNews.com
--
http://www.ldnews.com/lebanonnews/ci_10726119
Judge returns Hain’s permit
By JOHN LATIMER
Staff Writer
Lebanon Daily News
If the law didn’t matter, Lebanon County Judge Robert J. Eby might not have given Meleanie Hain her concealed-weapons permit back yesterday.
But civil rights ultimately trumped moral “right versus wrong,” Eby said, when he ruled that her license to carry a concealed weapon was improperly revoked after she openly wore her loaded and holstered handgun to her 5-year-old daughter’s soccer game last month.
“Society is replacing right versus wrong with legal versus illegal,” Eby said when he announced his ruling yesterday. “They are not the same thing. They never were, and it is my hope they never will be. There are times when someone’s conduct may be perfectly legal, but it is still wrong.”
Eby delivered his ruling at a hearing convened after Hain and her attorney, Robert Magee of Allentown, appealed Sheriff Mike DeLeo’s revocation of her permit. DeLeo made the decision after a parent complained about Hain wearing her Glock 26 during the soccer game on Sept. 11 at Optimist Park in Lebanon.
During testimony in response to questions from Magee and George Christianson, the solicitor for the county sheriff’s office, DeLeo steadfastly held to his belief that Hain posed a public danger and, therefore, his revocation of her license was justified.
“She carried a weapon on her right hip at a soccer field in the presence of many children ages 5- and 6-years-old, and also the general public — the parents and grandparents of these children,” DeLeo said. “At that time I felt she was a danger to the public safety. ... The very fact she is carrying a weapon — that in itself could inspire a riot.”
The danger would not have been as great if the weapon had been concealed because the crowd would not have been upset, DeLeo said.
When Hain was questioned by both attorneys and Eby, she explained that she routinely carries her gun.
“I was certainly not looking to shoot anybody over a goal,” she said. “I carry it everywhere.”
Hain claimed she always wears a firearm because her husband has a job in a law-enforcement field — which she refused to specify — that could possibly put her and her children at risk. Concealing the weapon, especially in the summer, is uncomfortable and slows her reaction time on the draw, which also makes her feel less safe, she said.
“I feel I’m a greater target than the wife of a grocery-store owner,” said the 30-year-old who has three children.
At the conclusion of the testimony, Eby lectured Hain, who listened quietly.
“Even if you felt the need (to be armed), there was an alternative for you to carry it concealed without causing the ire and intimidation to those people,” he said.
The matter was not a Second Amendment issue regarding the right to bear arms, said Eby, who acknowledged being a gun owner himself.
“There’s no question we all have rights under the Second Amendment,” he said. “But with these rights come responsibilities. ... There are limitations on what rights you have, and there has to be a balancing. ... A balance between the rule of law and common sense.”
Eby’s message was equally directed at the two dozen open-carry supporters who wore their weapons to the courthouse yesterday, only to turn them in to security guards at the door.
They sat quietly during the 90-minute hearing, breaking into applause only after the court had been called out of session.
After the hearing Hain said she would continue wearing her sidearm, even at her kids’ soccer games.
“He referenced the First Amendment, and he absolutely has the right to do that. ... And I have a right to my Second Amendment,” she said.
Magee said he was pleased by Eby’s ruling.
The national and international coverage that Hain’s case attracted may turn out to be a good thing for open-carry advocates, Magee said, because it will help educate the public as well as law-enforcement officials.
And the attention may not die down anytime soon, he added.
“We’ve already been contacted by Dr. Phil, and Dan Rather wants to interview us,” Magee said after the hearing.
JohnLatimer@ldnews.com
http://www.ldnews.com/lebanonnews/ci_10726125
