The Franklin News-Post
P. O. Box 250
310 Main Street, SW
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151
540-483-5113
Fax: 540-483-8013
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Friday, May 16, 2008
Just when we were optimistic that Boones Mill would see some peace and quiet after a bitter election, people carrying firearms and a shouting match highlighted the town council meeting Tuesday night.
A group called the Virginia Citizens Defense League sent about 40 members to the Boones Mill Town Council meeting in an apparent protest over a sign that is posted at town hall. The sign requests that no firearms be brought into the building.
Arguments also erupted over the residency of Boones Mill Mayor Ben Flora.
Both the sign and residency question were issues during the campaign, and it seems likely the losers of the election will not let the issues die.
That's sad, not only for the people in Boones Mill, but for the county as well.
At one time, the sign prohibited firearms from being carried into town hall, but the change to a simple request seems appropriate. State law prohibits a town or city from banning guns in most public buildings, including a town hall, so residents do have a right to carry legal firearms into a public meeting.
The common sense question here is, "Why would anyone want to do so?"
Speakers from the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a grassroots organization based in Northern Virginia, said the sign was discriminatory and prejudicial against gun owners, thereby threatening their Second Amendment rights.
If anything, using such a show of force to try to prove a nebulous point is more of a threat to Second Amendment rights. Who wants to attend a town council meeting with people toting guns for no apparent reason? That's a good way to make residents question the need to give people that right in the first place.
We are firm supporters of gun rights, but we certainly don't see the point of carrying firearms to a town council meeting. The move by the Virginia Citizens Defense League was ill-advised, and nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction to political sour grapes. In other words, members of the league, who apparently came here from other areas in the state, may have been well-intentioned, but they ended up involved in a political squabble they may have known nothing about.
Council member Peggy Steele probably spoke for most residents when she said, "That (carrying a gun at the meeting) worries me, especially if it is someone who has a temper."
And tempers did flare, especially about the residency issue, which is being looked into by the Franklin County Commonwealth's Attorney.
We urge those who lost the election to let the commonwealth's attorney look at the issue and make a determination. Until that is done, anything said about the mayor's residency is political rhetoric at its worst.
Cooler heads need to prevail here. Otherwise, it's going to be very difficult for council to operate effectively. And we certainly don't want to see a situation where sheriff's deputies are needed at every meeting.
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