Roanoke City Council Wants to Ban Firearms from Council Meetings

Earlier this month the Roanoke Times reported that the city council will once again ask the General Assembly to give it the authority to ban firearms from their meetings.  Similar efforts have failed in the past but the much slimmer pro-rights majority now in the House of Delegates has given them hope that this time may be different:

The new proposal is more narrowly tailored. It doesn’t seek a total ban on firearms in the municipal building but instead seeks to bar guns in places where a local governing body is meeting.

The ban would apply only during a council session, not all the time, and it would apply wherever the council meets, even if it’s not in the municipal building.

“That’s a step and it’s only one step,” said Councilman Bill Bestpitch during the meeting of council’s legislative committee, which he chairs.

He noted that there’s ample precedent for what the city is seeking. Guns are banned from local courthouses and parts of the General Assembly itself.

“This is really no different than other arms of government,” he said.

NRATV's Kerry Picket discussed the proposal with Dana Loesch on Friday's episode of Relentless.
This makes the special election in the 8th House of Delegate's District to fill the vacant seat left vacant by Delegate Greg Habeeb even more important.  The candidates are E. Carter Turner III (D) and Joseph McNamara (R).  The election will coincide with the General Election on November 6th.