Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
The city of Charleston wants a circuit judge to dismiss a gun rights group's lawsuit targeting a city gun ordinance.
Attorneys appeared Wednesday before Kanawha Circuit Judge James Stucky. A ruling is expected at a later date.
The West Virginia Citizens Defense League is asking Stucky to prevent the enforcement of an ordinance prohibiting handguns in certain public facilities. The ordinance remains on the books, despite a new state law that invalidates it.
The group's complaint has seen several changes after the new state law passed, making parts of the original complaint moot.
The ordinance prohibits guns from recreational facilities, the Municipal Auditorium, Civic Center and all parks and recreation buildings.
The city has filed its own complaint asking the court to determine whether recreational facilities that host after-school programs fall under the definition of a school. If so, a state law barring firearms from schools property would apply.
The group wants Stucky to dismiss it as a defendant in the city's complaint. Attorneys for the Citizens Defense League argued that because the group can't grant or deny any rights to the city, it's not a proper defendant.
Attorney Sean McGinley, representing the city, noted the group has an interest in how the ordinance is applied and that the group has sued the city three times. He said the city rightfully brought that action and previous cases show that the Citizens Defense League can be brought as a defendant.
Shawn Romano, representing the Citizens Defense League, argued there is a potential for irreparable harm because the city's law remains on the books, meaning an officer could enforce it.
"As we stand here today, a person can be arrested and charged under the municipal ordinance," he said.
McGinley said the city doesn't dispute that state law is superior, but that doesn't mean the city must formally repeal the ordinance.
He said it's considered void where there are conflicts with state law.
McGinley said the city isn't enforcing the ordinance and that the group cannot show it has been irreparably harmed by it remaining on the books.
He says the public interest is keeping guns out of the hands of children. McGinley said there are city-owned rec centers that host Head Start programs, so visitors should be required to stow weapons in secure containers. He noted there currently are no secure containers at the facilities.
McGinley said the group's arguments are based on "speculative and contingent" beliefs that someone could be arrested, even though the city has agreed state law controls the issue.
McGinley also argued the real issue is how state criminal law affects what the Legislature has done. He said it is a felony for a person to possess a deadly weapon on a bus, vocational or educational facility.