Posted on 07/24/2007 2:58:32 AM PDT by Daffynition
NORFOLK
Chester Szymecki Jr. was waiting for some music to start at Harborfest when a sheriff's deputy approached.
It was a warm June afternoon, and thousands of people wandered on and off the tall ships moored around Town Point Park. Szymecki had come from Yorktown with his wife, their three children and two children from their neighborhood.
Szymecki had brought along something else, too - a .45-caliber handgun in a holster on his belt.
The deputy asked Szymecki whether he was a police officer. He said no. And then, he said, uniformed city police began closing in. They gave him a choice, he said: Leave the event or face arrest. When he tried to say that there must be a mistake, he was disarmed and led away, handcuffed, he recalled.
Szymecki was charged with violating a local ordinance that the City Council had passed in May, which set up rules to govern Harborfest. Among them was a provision banning handguns and other weapons.
There's just one problem: A few years ago, the General Assembly barred localities from enforcing laws governing the carrying of firearms. That meant state law prevailed. And in Virginia, "open carry" is legal.
Localities today generally do not have the authority to restrict guns, said Mark Flynn, director of legal services for the Virginia Municipal League. A state law last amended in 2004 says localities cannot adopt or enforce laws regarding the purchase, carrying, possession, storage, or sale of firearms.
Szymecki was given a summons and released. When he showed up for court June 22, the case was withdrawn at the request of an assistant city attorney.
The case has enraged the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun rights group that has successfully challenged local gun restrictions around the commonwealth. Szymecki is a member. In the past the group has protested Norfolk's attempts to prevent the carrying of weapons in city parks.
Philip Van Cleave, the president of the league, says members plan to crowd the City Council chambers in protest at a future date.
The ordinance, he said, was "a huge mistake."
City Attorney Bernard Pishko said the city is not attempting to challenge the state law by imposing restrictions on handguns.
Pishko described the gun ban in the Harborfest ordinance as an oversight, a "housekeeping" issue. "This is one that we missed," he said. An ordinance governing Afr'Am Fest in May contained the same restrictions on weapons. Both ordinances were in effect only for the few days the events ran.
Pishko said his office has since advised police that "the only gun laws in effect for Norfolk are those in effect for Virginia."
Szymecki said the incident has changed the way he views the police. He said he plans to file a lawsuit and have a "neutral court" decide whether police violated his rights.
Thank you for the info. In looking at your group’s web site, I was unable to find other states that have taken up the cause with the same model as the VCDL ... do you know of any? I’d be interested in getting behind such advocates if they were local.
I like the “CAN DO” attitude of VCDL! Carry on!
That attitude is needed more than ever. We need to be involved and active ... and 2A issues are a great place to start the ball rolling. Seeing our Constitution and BoR torn apart and “interpreted” sickens me.
I hope someone will run with this idea.
It would have to be massive, and organized very well, as we all know the attitude of the government in the district. The danger would be that if it was massive enough, it might be seen as an open revolt (not a bad thing) and elicit the response of the Armed Forces, FBI, Secret Service, and the Capitol Police. We had better be very well prepared. If not enough people showed up to something like this, a lot of folks will spend time in jail, and the press will have a heyday (not like they wouldn't anyway).
Precisely. Pick a city and descend on it with 100,000 people openly carrying. Go to all the sites.
It should all be done on and in public areas. People should put on their Sundy best to look good for the cameras and be on their very best behavior.
Contact private businesses ahead of time and have them put out signs where open carry is welcome. It shouldn't become an issue of forcing views on other's property rights.
Arizona and Georgia have fledgling operations similar to VCDL, but I don’t know of any other states with organizations that have been as successful. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any, just that I don’t know about them.
Well then, how about a $5 million lawsuit for deprivation of rights under color of authority, with an added wrongful arrest thrown in for good measure. Housekeeping, and all that.
Based on my personal experience at Town Point Park in Norfolk, I’m here to tell you that seeing the average bonehead there drinking while carrying would scare the hell out of me. Sad but true.
What is it the officials say?
“Ignorance of the law is no excuse”?
So, these police officers need to face some “unlawful arrest” charges.
And possibly see what kind of 'compensation' he can get.
I'm not doubting the legality of VA's law and fully agree with it. The case was rightly dismissed. Send him a letter of apology, ensure the police know the law, and go with that. But in earlier times this would have been the end of it. The police admit to making a mistake, the citizen is released, end of story. Today however, it's we need to sue because they 'violated' my rights...
Yep. Turn the tables ... my thoughts exactly.
The more I know about Pishko, the city attorney, the less I like. He basically tried to bully and intimidate vanCleave. Did he ever pick the wrong guy!
I like your thinking. I had the same thoughts when I heard about the lighter ban being lifted by TSA. Apparently it was costing big brother $22,000 a day to dispose of the lighters. Now everyone needs to bring a gallon of water to get the stupid shampoo in baggies thing done away with. :>)
Another likely scenario is that while preparing rules for the event, they simply cut-and-pasted from an earlier event that had this rule. With the government, you don’t have to assume malice when incompetence will do.
Good enough place to bump this thread. I get the same intuition, that the planning behind this arrest was what really blew chunks. So I’ll be adding a keyword of Adrenaline Cowboys.
Vermont State Constitution Chapter 1, Article 16
That the people have a right to bear arms for the defence of themselves and the State and as standing armies in time of peace are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be kept up;and that the military should be kept under strict subordination to and governed by the civil power.
SEC. 13. That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defence of a free State; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided, as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.
Who goes to a concert with a gun on his hip? Was he expecting to get beat up by a mandolin player?
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