The Orange City Council Tuesday voted to ban firearms at public meetings. Councilmember Bill Mello was the only one opposed to the prohibition against firearms at meetings.
The vote comes in the council’s last meeting of the year. On January 1, the new Texas open carry law takes effect. People with concealed handgun licenses will be able to legally carry their pistols openly on a belt or shoulder holster. The law allows city councils to pass resolutions prohibiting guns in specified places.
The Orange Council voted to word the ban as “firearms” so people cannot bring rifles, shotguns or other long guns into a meeting. The guns will also be prohibited from Municipal Court and City Hall, where municipal court fines are collected. The gun ban will apply to the Orange Public Library rooms when they are used for election polling or a posted public meeting. Otherwise, licensed gun carriers will be able to bring their pistols into the library. In Texas, people are allowed to carry long guns in the open and no license is needed.
The ban will apply to any city meetings that are posted through the Texas Open Meetings Law and will include things like the Planning and Zoning Commission meetings and the Economic Development Corporation board.
People attending council meetings have gotten angry in the past and heated discussions have developed as citizens make their opinions public.
“If I come in (the council chambers) and someone is sitting (in the audience) with a shotgun, I’m walking out. We’re not having a meeting. I’m not going to be a sitting duck up here,” Mayor Jimmy Sims said. The council auditorium has the council sitting at a dais in front of stadium style seating for the audience.
“I don’t know what the legal thinking is. Are we going back to the Wild West shoot-out days?” the mayor asked.
District 2 Councilmember Dr. Wayne Guidry voted in favor of the prohibition of guns in meetings. Besides protecting council members and city staff, the ban will also protect people who attend the meetings. “I see it as one of first duties is to protect our citizens,” he said.
Orange has been the only entity in the county to vote to ban guns at meetings. County Sheriff Keith Merritt attended the council meeting. Afterward, he said he is watching to see what other entities are doing in case the Orange County Commissioners Court has questions.
At one point in the meeting, council members talked about feeling safe at meetings because of Police Chief Lane Martin’s presence along with other police officers. City Manager Dr. Shawn Oubre stopped the comments and said he did not want to talk about the security in public.
Chief Martin made the presentation to the council concerning the ban. The memo he sent to the council before the meeting said the ban will apply to council members even if they have concealed handgun licenses.
Dr. Oubre said many questions are still coming up about the new open carry law. He said Chief Martin has been studying the issue for about four months and “there’s been a big buzz on this” at conferences for police chiefs.
The city manager said the state legislature will probably tweak the law at the next session in 2017. For instance, certified Texas peace officers may carry handguns into a meeting, but the law doesn’t allow for federal officers or for retired peace officers.
Only one citizen, Leslie Barras, spoke concerning the proposed gun ban at meetings. She was in favor of the ban and said she trusts trained law enforcement officers to protect the public in a meeting. Other people with guns might obfuscate an emergency situation for law officers, she said.
District 4 Councilmember Mary McKenna made the motion to ban firearms at meetings. “I don’t see any reason to have a gun in here while we’re talking,” she said. Voting for the prohibition of guns were McKenna, Guidry, Sims and At-Large Councilmember Larry Spears. District 3 Councilmember Essie Bellfield was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.
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