{"id":19579,"date":"2019-10-23T09:40:16","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T15:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/?p=61009"},"modified":"2019-10-23T09:40:16","modified_gmt":"2019-10-23T15:40:16","slug":"aspen-passes-ordinance-to-ban-guns-in-city-buildings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/local-news\/aspen-passes-ordinance-to-ban-guns-in-city-buildings\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen passes ordinance to ban guns in city buildings"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Aspen City Hall. <\/strong>
Aspen Times file photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Despite outcry by gun owners and hours of sometimes heated debate, Aspen City Council on Tuesday passed a ban on deadly weapons in municipal government buildings.<\/p>\n

The new law, which goes into effect in 30 days, prohibits possession of deadly weapons in city buildings unless individuals are peace officers or have permits to carry concealed firearms.<\/p>\n

Council unanimously passed the ban in response to growing concerns of increasing gun violence and the safety of the public and city staff in government buildings.<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Ann Mullins said it is the job of elected officials to protect the public and employees in city buildings.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore guns doesn\u2019t mean safer,\u201d she said. \u201cIt becomes an emotional issue for me. \u2026 I don\u2019t want a bunch of guns in the building.\u201d<\/p>\n

City Manager Sara Ott and City Attorney Jim True brought forward the ordinance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese acts of violence contribute to increased personal safety concerns for visitors, guests and employees,\u201d reads a memo to council from them. \u201cCity-owned buildings should be considered safe, available, and open for constructive public discourse. \u2026 The lack of weapons contributes to the sense of safety of visitors, guests and employees.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prohibition didn\u2019t sit well with Second Amendment advocates<\/a> who spoke with force on Tuesday during council\u2019s regular meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are asking me to conceal my right to bear arms,\u201d Rifle resident Lauren Boebert said. \u201cMy rights do not end where your fears begin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aspen resident Steve Berk said he\u2019s fearful that prohibition won\u2019t stop at the roughly 25 city properties where the law could be applied<\/a>, and soon it will be parks and the mall.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next and the next and the next,\u201d he told council. \u201cGive an inch and take a mile.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garfield County resident Sherronna Bishop said countless incidents with bears occur in Aspen and on city property, and that is just one reason to bear arms.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny citizen should always have the right to protect themselves against wildlife,\u201d she said, adding disarming citizens is not the answer. \u201cA good guy with a gun will always stop a bad guy with a gun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside of the new law, city employees are not allowed to carry weapons or firearms while in municipal government buildings.<\/p>\n

Tracy Terry, administrative assistant in the City Clerk\u2019s Office who works in the front office at the entrance to City Hall, told council she doesn\u2019t feel safe at work at times.<\/p>\n

She said doesn\u2019t agree with the city policy about employees not being able to carrying weapons, or the public prohibition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t think this actually makes us safer,\u201d she said. \u201cI wonder why we need this at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

The law is a symbolic gesture because city officials do not plan to install metal detectors or security personnel to know whether people are carrying guns into buildings.<\/p>\n

Aspen resident Phyllis Bronson said after listening to the gun advocates, particularly four women wearing guns on their hips in front of her in council chambers, she isn\u2019t convinced.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like an alien in my town,\u201d she said, adding guns have no place in a peaceful society like Aspen. \u201cI don\u2019t think this ordinance goes far enough. \u2026 If you are going to do it, don\u2019t do it half-assed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city pays for a police officer to be present during regular council meetings, which are held the first and third Tuesdays of the month.<\/p>\n

Linda Manning, who spoke in front of council as an Aspen resident and not in her capacity as city clerk, said she feels safer carrying her gun.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the past several months there have been members of the public coming in and threatening violence,\u201d she said. \u201cWhile none of it has been personally directed at me, it makes me uncomfortable to be in a room where there is the potential for something bad to happen and not be able to do anything about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cTonight is the first night in a very long time I\u2019ve felt safe in this room,\u201d she told council. \u201cYes, there is a police officer here, but I also have friends here who are armed and so am I.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aspen joins Boulder, Aurora and Denver in banning deadly weapons in municipal office buildings.<\/p>\n

The definition of a deadly weapon includes not only firearms but also a \u201cknife, bludgeon, or any other weapon, device, instrument, material, or 189 substance, whether animate or inanimate, that, in the manner it is used or intended to be used, is capable of producing death or serious bodily injury.\u201d<\/p>\n

The crime will be punishable by up to a $2,650 fine and up to one year in jail.<\/p>\n

via:: Sky-Hi News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aspen City Hall. Aspen Times file photo Despite outcry by gun owners and hours of sometimes heated debate, Aspen City Council on Tuesday passed a ban on deadly weapons in municipal government buildings. The new law, which goes into effect in 30 days, prohibits possession of deadly weapons in city buildings unless individuals are peace […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19579","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-15 05:57:02","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KRKY Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19579\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}