Police Chief Andy Gee said:
"This concealed law takes away open carry, so you have to have a permit to carry concealed"
Well, he's partially right... in most situations citizens will have to have a permission slip if they want to conceal lawfully.
But as most of you have already pointed out, he obviously hasn't read the new law, which quite clearly & specifically says it does not affect OC, other than giving more places where it's legal (with a permit).
Here's the website for the paper:
http://www.lakelandtimes.com/
This appears to be the article under discussion:
http://www.lakelandtimes.com/main.asp?SectionID=9&SubSectionID=9&ArticleID=13954
The author's email is given as:
lcarlson@lakelandtimes.com
Apparently has gotten married or divorced since starting work there...
And for letters to the editor:
editor@lakelandtimes.com
And some choice quotes:
"We have to adopt a policy by Nov. 1 for town buildings," town chairman Mark Hartzheim said
No, you don't. You don't have to adopt any policy, either way. Just let the law go into effect.
Supervisor John Thompson also wanted to ensure the town didn't reach too far, citing the intent of the Act 35 was to legalize concealed carry.
"It isn't right, because the law states that you can [conceal] carry," Thompson said.
...
Thompson voiced concern about what people were supposed to do with their weapons when they arrived at a building where they are prohibited.
Despite his seeming support of citizens' rights, he voted for the restrictions.
supervisor Bryan Jennings didn't feel it should be the town's responsibility to monitor everyone who comes in and out of municipal buildings.
"I don't think it's the town's responsibility to monitor whether someone's carrying a gun,"
Amen!
police chief Gee said:
My recommendation: do what I do if I'm on-duty or off-duty and I decide to go to a place where I'm not going to carry a gun... I'll just take my whole holster and sidearm off and secure it in my trunk or a locked glove box
Idiot. Now criminals know where to look in his car.
town chairman Mark Hartzheim said:
it's now legal to conceal carry in a lot of places... but as someone who wants to carry, you have to be prepared for that... That's your problem when you run across a place that doesn't allow them.
He doesn't seem to understand the difference between a private business, which citizens may avoid by spending money elsewhere,
and the government, which has a monopoly on certain things, so citizen cannot go elsewhere.
And one of the primary purposes of gov't is to protect the rights of citizens.
Made a couple of posts; we'll see if the censors... er, editors... allow them.
Might be too informative.