Montgomery county Permit to carry concealed not valid in Montgomery County parks.

[anonymouse]

In case anyone is curious, I happened to print Durante's outrageous press release to PDF before it was pulled from the website. I uploaded it in another thread:

http://forum.pafoa.org/concealed-ope...tml#post960964 (Sheriff Letters)

PDF itself:
http://forum.pafoa.org/attachment.ph...3&d=1257297149

And the text of the press release:

PRESS RELEASE:
MONTGOMERY COUNTY SHERIFF JOHN P. DURANTE REVOKES CONCEALED CARRY PERMIT OF JOSEPH JAMES DEPAUL, JR. AND ENCOURAGES TRAIL USERS TO REPORT ALL INCIDENTS TO POLICE AND NOT TAKE THE LAW INTO THEIR OWN HANDS

For Immediate Release

Friday, July 24, 2009
Contact: Sheriff John P. Durante
Phone: 610-278-3337

Montgomery County Sheriff John P. Durante has revoked the firearms permit of Joseph James DePaul, Jr. of 627 Hamilton Street, Norristown, for an alleged incident that happened on the Plymouth Township section of the Schuylkill River Trail on Wednesday, July 22, 2009.

As stated before by Sheriff Durante, the Montgomery County Commissioners want to ensure that all users of the Montgomery County park system have a safe and enjoyable time. To that end, the Sheriff will be increasing deputy patrols throughout the entire county trail system. Sheriff Durante also wants to note that issues of public safety on the trail system are not just limited to the Municipality of Norristown but are a system-wide concern, as the present case demonstrates. Law enforcement agencies along the park system trails, along with Montgomery County Park Rangers, do a tremendous job in helping to keep the trail safe. The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia has also been a great partner to the county and law enforcement agencies by keeping us informed of all issues that affect the responsible enjoyment of the county trails.

Sheriff Durante once again reminds the public that carrying a firearm on the trail or in any county park, regardless of whether or not one has a concealed carry permit, is illegal and a violation of the rules and regulations of the Montgomery County park system. Anyone caught in possession of a firearm in violation of these rules and regulations will immediately lose their concealed carry permit and will be turned over to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution. In programs such as the controlled hunts, where firearms are permitted in county parks, the county goes to great lengths to ensure there is proper distance for using firearms and the event is supervised by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Montgomery County Park Rangers, and Sheriff’s Deputies to protect the safety of other users of the park.


Sheriff Durante echoes the National Rifle Association in encouraging the responsible, safe and legal use of firearms. Taking the law into one’s own hands serves no purpose but to put innocent people in danger and carelessly shooting a weapon on the trail could endanger unsuspecting users jogging, walking their dogs, or riding their bicycles. The events that occurred on Wednesday in Plymouth Township should be a lesson learned for all park users not to take the law into their own hands but to notify police and report all incidents immediately to the proper authorities.

***
Content Last Modified on 7/24/2009 3:13:42 PM

[emsjeep]

Originally Posted by bean610

This one gets me. Montgomery County issues a permit to carry a concealed weapon, but it is not valid in Montgomery County parks. Rule No. 2 under Rules and Regulations (county parks) states "No person shall possess or transport fireworks, firearms, BB guns .... Like there are never any criminals in the county parks that may try to harm innocent people. Lately there was a case where a person with a permit took the law into his own hands and fired at some presumably innocent people. The sheriff if going to revoke his permit because he broke the park rule. I believe that is not the reason his permit should be revoked. I believe the sheriff should make a criminal charge against the person and that would be the reason for the permit to be revoked.
I admit that I have not heard all the facts in the case, only what was in the paper, but I think that a permit issued by Montgomery County should be valid in all Montgomery County, the exceptions being Federal property and State property.
I wonder what this will stir up.

http://forum.pafoa.org/concealed-ope...nty-parks.html (Montgomery County Parks)