Saturday, September 01, 2007

Gun Owners Stand Up For Rights

Gun owners know how to stand up for their rights in Virginia. 

More than 100 gun-rights advocates, most carrying handguns on their hips and wearing buttons saying “Guns Save Lives,” came to the City Council on Tuesday night to protest what they called harassment of law-abiding gun owners by city officials.

The protest was called by the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun-rights group, after Chet Szymecki of Yorktown was arrested in June at Harborfest for carrying a gun.

Szymecki was arrested for violating a city ordinance banning guns at Harborfest - an ordinance that officials now acknowledge violates state law. City Attorney Bernard A. Pishko said city officials were unaware of a state law prohibiting localities from banning guns.

Carrying a weapon openly is legal in Virginia, even at a large gathering such as Harborfest. Once city officials realized their error, the charges against Szymecki were dropped.

“We made a mistake,” Councilman Barclay C. Winn said. “It was unintentional.”

Most who came to protest didn’t appear to believe it was an innocent mistake.

“You know it was illegal,” said Dave Vann, who drove from Falls Church to speak. “You arrested someone, and now it’s going to cost you dearly.”

(3) Comments
Posted by Owen at 0708 hrs
Culture + Firearms

  1. It is the City Attorney’s job to know what the law is. He needs to step down, or be relieved of his position and any future benefits therefrom, as he was collecting his wages under false pretenses.

    Posted by triticale on September 01, 2007 at 1753 hrs


  2. This is not a case of the City Attorney not knowing the law, it is a case of the City attorney and the police not liking the state law that prempts their anti-gun agenda.
    The good folks in Virgina are very serious about their firearm rights.  It wold be nice to see a little of that grit in this state.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on September 02, 2007 at 0916 hrs


  3. Actually it was a case of the city council not knowing or agreeing with the state law!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on September 21, 2007 at 1258 hrs


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