CT town considers banning open carry of guns in public buildings
SOUTH WINDSOR — A proposal to ban open carrying of guns in South Windsor’s public buildings is meant to promote safety, according to a draft ordinance that the town council discussed Monday, but 2nd Amendment advocates say it’s a misguided notion that targets law-abiding citizens.
The purpose of the proposed rule is “to provide for the good order, peace, health, safety and welfare of the town and its residents in the management of the business of the town while inside any town building,” the draft says. Anyone carrying an “electronic defense weapon, pistol or revolver” inside any municipal building would have to keep the weapon hidden “to promote peace, good government and welfare of the town.” Violators would be subject to arrest for trespassing, according to the draft rule.
South Windsor’s town attorney said he was not aware of any Connecticut town that has rules banning open carrying in public buildings.
Mayor Liz Pendleton said the issue is open for discussion and a public forum is planned for the near future. Pendleton, a Democrat, said she had the municipal attorney draft the proposal after hearing from town staff, residents and volunteers who were concerned about firearms in public buildings and “the state of where we are with gun violence in the United States.”
“They’re concerned about going to their local grocery store. They’re concerned about going to their church,” Pendleton said. “I’m offering a platform.”
But resident Rick Balboni said the proposed ban targets him because he has openly carried a gun in town hall. State law allows people to carry firearms, but does not delineate between open and concealed carrying.
At the council meeting, Balboni handed out pocket copies of the state constitution to council members
before stepping to the podium in a tucked-in T-shirt with his Glock 9mm handgun strapped to one hip and two magazines on the other.
Balboni, 52, an accountant for a construction company, then donned a hooded sweatshirt, mask and sunglasses, saying, “I want to make you feel more comfortable and maybe be able to hear me a little better without staring at my sidearm. I just want to know if this might not scare you quite as much.”
Then he took off the sweatshirt, mask and sunglasses and said, “I come here openly and with all transparency, letting you know I’m bearing arms as is my constitutional right.”
Balboni referred to a letter read at a previous council meeting from resident Paul Bernstein, who wrote that he had concerns about open carrying of firearms in town hall and wondered why anyone would feel the need to carry a gun in a public building.
Bernstein wrote that he had been in town hall many times “and have yet to see a deer, turkey or duck,” so the purpose could not be hunting. Police typically provide security at public meetings, he wrote, so that
could not be the reason, and if the purpose is to prevent “terrorist attacks,” then a concealed weapon is smarter — “otherwise you become the first target.”
Bernstein wrote that he was left with “intimidation” as the only answer, and “the problem with intimidation is it invites others to bring even bigger and better firearms into our (public buildings).”
Holly Sullivan, president of the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, a gun owners’ advocacy group with 43,000 members, said such proposals, including outright bans on guns in public buildings, have failed in other towns across the state. Making people choose between their right to bear arms and paying their taxes or checking out a book is discriminatory, Sullivan said, because poorer gun owners who don’t have vehicles cannot lock their firearms in a car before going into a public building. As for the question of concealment, some citizens, including disabled people who use wheelchairs, cannot safely conceal a firearm in their waistbands, Sullivan said.
The rapidly growing number of permitted gun owners in Connecticut, she
noted, have been fingerprinted, passed background checks and completed firearms training. They have proven themselves to be upstanding citizens, Sullivan said, and why town officials would target such residents with rules that affect the way they conduct public business is a mystery.
State law prohibits firearms in state parks, courthouses and other areas, and federal law prohibits guns on school grounds. Also, state law says a gun permit does not allow a person to carry a firearm in places where possession is prohibited “by the person who owns or exercises control over such premises.”
Pendleton said she wants to continue the discussion, but the draft rule may never go anywhere. As for Balboni’s contention that he was being targeted, she said, “This is not about Mr. Balboni; this is about the state of the world.”
Balboni ended his public comments at Monday’s council meeting by saying, “Do you know who always, always conceal their firearms? Criminals.”