Holly Springs council to vote on banning open-carry of deadly weapons on town property

The Holly Springs Town Council will vote Tuesday night on an ordinance that would restrict deadly weapons in town buildings and parks and recreational areas.

The ordinance, or local order, would make it illegal to openly carry, possess or display deadly weapons, including guns, knives or blades longer than three inches, as well as BB guns and pellet guns in specific parks and town buildings.

It would not prohibit the concealed carry of weapons by people who have a concealed carry permit.

People who violate the ordinance could face a class 3 misdemeanor, the lowest misdemeanor, and/or a fine. As an alternative, an officer could charge a violator with a town civil citation.

If the ordinance is passed, the town will put up signs designating where weapons are prohibited.

People exempt from the ordinances would include local, state and federal law enforcement officers, military personnel and security guards. If town employees or contractors require such weapons for their duties, they would be exempt too.

Concealed-carry ban rejected

According to agenda materials for Tuesday’s meeting, the Town Council “recognized that no provision exists in the current Code of Ordinances to regulate the open carry of firearms or other deadly weapons on Town property.”

The issue first came up in May, and the Town Council discussed it further during a July 14 workshop, at which members voted to draft two ordinances: one prohibiting concealed carry of deadly weapons in parks and town buildings and another prohibiting openly carrying deadly weapons.

The council rejected the concealed-carry ordinance and voted to defer the open-carry ordinance for revisions after hearing public comments at an Aug. 18 meeting. The revised ordinance eliminates the prohibition of open carry on greenways and specifically lists the parks in which the prohibition would apply.

“It would be almost impossible to monitor such a thing (concealed-carry weapons in parks),” Mayor Richard G. Sears said in a phone interview Tuesday morning. He also said the town has never had a problem with concealed-carry gun owners.

The town requested written comments and heard from residents about the proposed ordinance.

North Carolinians Against Gun Violence Education Fund encouraged support for the ordinance. “Many Wake County municipalities already prohibit the open carrying of firearms at town and park/recreation facilities,” it stated in a news release.

Rules across Wake County

A presentation at the July 14 town workshop showed how other municipalities in Wake County regulate weapons in parks and city or town facilities.

Raleigh, Cary, Morrisville, Garner, Wendell and Rolesville all restrict lawful concealed carry and open carry firearms both in city or town buildings and parks, the presentation shows. Only Zebulon has no firearm prohibitions in parks and town buildings, the presentation showed.

At the Aug. 18 Holly Springs Town Council meeting, there were 118 written comments opposed to both ordinances and three for, Sears said at the meeting. “We’ve got so many (comments), we’ve run out of paper.”

Since then, the total number of comments in favor of prohibiting open-carry in parks and town buildings has increased to 155 and the total number against has increased to 190, Sears said Tuesday.

“It’s the kind of issue where a lot of people feel very very strongly on both sides,” Sears said.

Town Attorney John Schifano noted at the meeting that the ordinance would only apply to town buildings and parks.

“The government can limit constitutional rights when there is a compelling government interest,” he said. “Keeping guns out of this room is a pretty compelling government interest.”

Tremendous public interest

Sears said the public participation at the August meeting was unlike anything he had seen before

At the meeting, several people commented on the ordinances. Only two spoke in favor of it.

Sears said most of the comments came from Holly Springs residents and roughly 15 to 20% of the comments came from elsewhere.

Andrew Stevens traveled from Stokes County to speak. He is director of legislative affairs for Grass Roots North Carolina, a gun rights organization that recently sued the Wake County Sheriff’s Office for taking too long to process handgun permits.

Stevens said at the meeting, before the Town Council rejected prohibiting concealed carry, that Grass Roots North Carolina would file a lawsuit if Holly Springs moved forward and approved the ordinances.

Stevens said the places people are not allowed to conceal and carry has expanded over time to include public parks, establishments that serve alcohol, transit, school grounds and school parking areas.

“Concealed carry holders have proven themselves to be safe, sane and sober,” he said. “State law does not permit the closing of an entire park to lawful concealed carry.”

After Stevens finished speaking, many in the room applauded.

Gerard Falzon from Morrisville, the Republican nominee for N.C. House District 40, also spoke against the ordinance.

“If elected, I will work to repeal the preemption laws that provide the legal basis for your proposal on the grounds that they violate the Second Amendment and only serve to place the citizens in greater danger than they are right now.”

Susan Smith said she supported the ordinance. She said she has lived in Holly Springs for 20 years and serves on several boards in Holly Springs, as well as her neighborhood board.

“I am also very much a supporter of the Second Amendment,” she said. “However I have grave concerns about guns being brought into places where children and families are playing sports or taking classes.”

She said her entire family has participated in parks and recreational activities and she thought the facilities were already gun-free zones. “I do not understand why our parks and rec facilities do not fall under the same guidelines as the laws that apply to our schools, which are considered gun-free zones,” she said.

“Do we really want to tell the children of this community that we had the opportunity to do the right thing, but we just chose not to?” she asked.