MgoBlue
Regular Member
imported post
Just posted by the Louisville Courier-Journal:
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100323/NEWS01/3230339/House+Democrats+to+consider+gun+ban+for+chamber
What I want to know is who at this forum are the good folks talked about in the story!
Carry on . . .
-----------Story begins-----------
FRANKFORT, Ky. — House Democrats will talk Wednesday about the need for a new rule that would prohibit guns on the House floor and in the visitors’ gallery after a couple of incidents this session that have left some legislators shaken.“We should not live in fear as we debate issues,” said Jim Wayne, D-Louisville, who called himself and his fellow legislators “sitting ducks.”
House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said that he would have no problem with such a rule but that it would be up to the Democratic caucus to decide whether to pursue the matter.
Currently, guns are not prohibited anywhere on the Capitol campus as long as they are carried openly. Concealed weapons — unless carried by a legislator — are prohibited in the House and Senate chambers and in legislative committee meetings.
“We're an open-carry state,” said Sgt. Brian Evans, who runs the Kentucky State Police detail that protects the legislature. “It's crazy.”
Evans said that, whenever someone enters the Capitol with a gun, he assigns a state trooper to follow the individual until he leaves the building.
“I hate to do that but there's nothing else we can do,” he said.
Earlier in the session someone was openly carrying a semiautomatic handgun. That person returned with his gun on Monday.
And on Tuesday, Evans said, a state trooper assigned to the House gallery noticed a holster under another man's shirt. The man was escorted from the gallery and police later learned that the holster was empty.
Gov. Paul Patton signed an executive order during his 1995-2003 administration that banned weapons in the Capitol. But that order expired, and since then guns have been allowed.
In a floor speech yesterday, Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville, implored Stumbo to work with other members of the Legislative Research Commission to ban guns in the building, citing the growing anger in the nation's political discourse.
She noted that school children from throughout the state visit the Capitol nearly every day and that their parents expect they are visiting a safe place. If guns are going to be present, Marzian said, parents should be warned.
“Parents need to know their children are going to be in mortal danger,” she said.
Rep. Bob Damron, D-Nicholasville, said in an interview that any attempt to prohibit guns from being carried openly in the Capitol would violate the state's constitution, which gives the General Assembly only the power to regulate concealed weapons.
Stumbo said he believes, however, that he believes the courts would uphold any ban on guns in in the Capitol.
Reporter Joseph Gerth can be reached at (502) 582-4702.
--------End of Story---------
Just posted by the Louisville Courier-Journal:
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100323/NEWS01/3230339/House+Democrats+to+consider+gun+ban+for+chamber
What I want to know is who at this forum are the good folks talked about in the story!
Carry on . . .
-----------Story begins-----------
FRANKFORT, Ky. — House Democrats will talk Wednesday about the need for a new rule that would prohibit guns on the House floor and in the visitors’ gallery after a couple of incidents this session that have left some legislators shaken.“We should not live in fear as we debate issues,” said Jim Wayne, D-Louisville, who called himself and his fellow legislators “sitting ducks.”
House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said that he would have no problem with such a rule but that it would be up to the Democratic caucus to decide whether to pursue the matter.
Currently, guns are not prohibited anywhere on the Capitol campus as long as they are carried openly. Concealed weapons — unless carried by a legislator — are prohibited in the House and Senate chambers and in legislative committee meetings.
“We're an open-carry state,” said Sgt. Brian Evans, who runs the Kentucky State Police detail that protects the legislature. “It's crazy.”
Evans said that, whenever someone enters the Capitol with a gun, he assigns a state trooper to follow the individual until he leaves the building.
“I hate to do that but there's nothing else we can do,” he said.
Earlier in the session someone was openly carrying a semiautomatic handgun. That person returned with his gun on Monday.
And on Tuesday, Evans said, a state trooper assigned to the House gallery noticed a holster under another man's shirt. The man was escorted from the gallery and police later learned that the holster was empty.
Gov. Paul Patton signed an executive order during his 1995-2003 administration that banned weapons in the Capitol. But that order expired, and since then guns have been allowed.
In a floor speech yesterday, Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville, implored Stumbo to work with other members of the Legislative Research Commission to ban guns in the building, citing the growing anger in the nation's political discourse.
She noted that school children from throughout the state visit the Capitol nearly every day and that their parents expect they are visiting a safe place. If guns are going to be present, Marzian said, parents should be warned.
“Parents need to know their children are going to be in mortal danger,” she said.
Rep. Bob Damron, D-Nicholasville, said in an interview that any attempt to prohibit guns from being carried openly in the Capitol would violate the state's constitution, which gives the General Assembly only the power to regulate concealed weapons.
Stumbo said he believes, however, that he believes the courts would uphold any ban on guns in in the Capitol.
Reporter Joseph Gerth can be reached at (502) 582-4702.
--------End of Story---------