http://www.msnbc.com/local/KHQ/124663.asp
Sean Owsley
SPOKANE, August 31 - It’s dangerous out there. Spokane County Sheriff Mark Sterk says his own experience led him to that conclusion.
Dangerous enough that Sterk wants to arm elected county officials and allow them to carry the firearms in the Spokane County Courthouse and the Public Safety Building. Sheriff Sterk says he was stalked. A man followed him from his office at the Spokane Public Safety Building to his home. Sterk says he isn’t alone. Similar problems have been experienced by other elected officials, including a judge and a court commissioner.
Several elected officials think it’s a good idea and plan to apply. To get the gun, they will have to obtain a state concealed weapon permit, buy their own pistol, and attend and complete a firearms safety training session. That session will be conducted by personnel from the sheriff’s office.
This program applies only to elected officials, not their staff or other county employees.
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This is interesting because Washington State has complete pre-emption at the state level. I'm not sure the sheriff has authority to enact such a program.
And we wouldn't want to let the great unwashed carry guns, just the elected officials.
And then there's the fact that the courthouse/public safety building is required to provide a gun locker for anyone who comes in off the street with a pistol so they can check it while doing business in the building. Why can't the elected officials just check their guns like everyone else? Is the sheriff admitting that a law prohibiting weapons in the building, and a metal detector to screen for them, does not offer protection?
I'm trying to find an e-mail address for the sheriff so I can query him on these issues.
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“The whole of the Bill (of Rights) is a declaration of the right of the people at large or considered as individuals. ... It establishes some rights of the individual as unalienable and which consequently, no majority has a right to deprive them of.” -Alexander Addison, 1789
[This message has been edited by deanf (edited August 31, 1999).]
Sean Owsley
SPOKANE, August 31 - It’s dangerous out there. Spokane County Sheriff Mark Sterk says his own experience led him to that conclusion.
Dangerous enough that Sterk wants to arm elected county officials and allow them to carry the firearms in the Spokane County Courthouse and the Public Safety Building. Sheriff Sterk says he was stalked. A man followed him from his office at the Spokane Public Safety Building to his home. Sterk says he isn’t alone. Similar problems have been experienced by other elected officials, including a judge and a court commissioner.
Several elected officials think it’s a good idea and plan to apply. To get the gun, they will have to obtain a state concealed weapon permit, buy their own pistol, and attend and complete a firearms safety training session. That session will be conducted by personnel from the sheriff’s office.
This program applies only to elected officials, not their staff or other county employees.
____________
This is interesting because Washington State has complete pre-emption at the state level. I'm not sure the sheriff has authority to enact such a program.
And we wouldn't want to let the great unwashed carry guns, just the elected officials.
And then there's the fact that the courthouse/public safety building is required to provide a gun locker for anyone who comes in off the street with a pistol so they can check it while doing business in the building. Why can't the elected officials just check their guns like everyone else? Is the sheriff admitting that a law prohibiting weapons in the building, and a metal detector to screen for them, does not offer protection?
I'm trying to find an e-mail address for the sheriff so I can query him on these issues.
------------------
“The whole of the Bill (of Rights) is a declaration of the right of the people at large or considered as individuals. ... It establishes some rights of the individual as unalienable and which consequently, no majority has a right to deprive them of.” -Alexander Addison, 1789
[This message has been edited by deanf (edited August 31, 1999).]