CC Shall issue CC ordinances at city level?

[Solitar]

Given the recalcitrance of the Democrat/liberal/metro area dominated Colorado legislature, I'm considering trying to get my fellow city councilmen (5 men, 2 women) to pass a "shall issue" ordinance that forces our recalitrant Chief of Police to issue concealed carry permits if a person can pass a background check.

Do any of you know of a smallish city (under 10,000 or even up to 50,000) that has done this? Any sources for sample ordinances?

 

[David Scott]

I don't know about Colorado, but that couldn't be done here in Florida since the state has preempted the right to make laws regarding weapons. Local government can't pass local laws on the subject at all.

[This message has been edited by David Scott (edited June 16, 2000).]

 

[Ledbetter]

Solitar, David Scott is right about preemption. It works that way here in California too.

However, the Chief works for the City Council, and I think you can adopt a city policy which would be binding on him as to when he will approve CCW applications for city residents who pass the background check. Maybe you should do a personnel review of a police chief who won't allow your city's residents to protect themselves. Maybe he's not deserving of any more "cost-of-living" raises. Is there a deputy chief who is stronger on RKBA issues?

Feel free to email me if you want to discuss this further.

 

[Jim March]

The first thing you need to figure out is, is the Chief in a "contract" for a certain time period barring outright misconduct, or his he hired "at will" and can be thrown out due to "political considerations"?

In San Francisco, the city charter makes the Chief's position "at will". He cannot sue for wrongful termination under any circumstances. In other cases, Chiefs are like most other employees whereby so long as he/she/it does his/her/it's job, you're sorta stuck with him/her/whatever.

If he's "at will", then sure, the city council CAN pass a resolution saying only pro-CCW Chiefs (by demonstrated action) are to be allowed to retain the job.

Colorado has very WEAK preemption if any. Denver is a "no CCW zone" even if you have a CCW permit from another county.

So...one way or another, this seems possible. With preemption that weak, a pro-CCW local ordinance should be possible, and if the Chief still doesn't issue you can argue he's violating that ordinance and can be fired even if he doesn't have "at will" status.

In California, the closest we could come would be for a town to force their Chief to *fully* obey state CCW laws, on pain of firing. That alone would be a step in the right direction, considering the rampant illegality in the issuance process statewide.

Jim March
Equal Rights For CCW Home Page (California) http://www.ninehundred.com/~equalccw

[This message has been edited by Jim March (edited June 16, 2000).]