AURORA — After a City Council meeting grew tense last month when two men walked in with open-carry guns, the city’s Public Safety Committee voted Tuesday to forward a potential ban on open carry in City Hall to the full council.
addressed members of the committee Tuesday about the open-carry issue. The board, by a vote of 2-1, agreed to send the measure to the council for consideration.
“In open carrying, we don’t know who is carrying or why they are carrying,” Jones said.
At a City Council meeting Feb. 2, two young men walked into the Aurora Municipal Center, each with a pistol strapped to his belt and joined the crowd gathering to watch the meeting.
Some there were concerned, as were the numerous police officers who were there to see incoming Police Chief Nick Metz be confirmed as the .
Many officers gathered near the men, as one was known to have baited cops in the past by openly carrying a gun in public. Nothing happened at the meeting, as it was the men’s right to openly carry a gun on the premises.
“I really understand the concerns, but I am really reluctant to restrict someone’s constitutional right to carry a firearm,” City Councilman Bob Roth, a member of the committee who has a concealed-carry permit, said Tuesday.
If the city chooses to ban the guns at the AMC, it merely would need to post signs prohibiting them. To restrict guns that are concealed, which is allowed by state law with a permit, Aurora would have to set up metal detectors. There was no consensus on moving in that direction Tuesday.
Denver and Boulder counties do not allow guns to be carried openly, but they are permitted in Castle Rock and Larimer County.
Aurora Councilwoman Barb Cleland, also a member of the Public Safety Committee, said she is not a “gun person” but said she needed more information before coming to a decision on the issue.
Jones noted that the City Council and staff workers could be vulnerable if someone holds a grudge against them for a certain issue, and a ban on open-carry guns would be one way to prevent a potential confrontation.
He said he understands the public’s constitutional right to carry a gun but wanted to bring the issue to the committee for discussion.
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175, cillescas@denverpost.com or twitter.com/cillescasdp
