Preemption Violation - Brightbill Park - Lower Paxton Twp - Dauphin County

[HBGMarine]

Hello Everyone,
I'm looking for some help in tackling my first preemption violation. Last night I decided to take my Lab-weiler for an enjoyable walk around the neighborhood. He is a big sissy that is scared of the dark so he insisted I arm myself before leaving the house. I grabbed my Glock inside a POS Fobus holster, my flashlight, and a PAFOA flyer just in case and off we went. Near the end of our circuit I was returning through Brightbill park I noticed a large sign with the park rules that I hadn't seen before. Right down near the bottom I see "Firearms and other weapons prohibited" signed the Lower Paxton Parks & Recreation Committee. I've found a form letter on this site along with examples of what others have done to correct this in the past but I wanted to see if anyone had any input on who I should contact first regarding this violation? Should I contact Parks & Recreation by phone, send a letter/email to the Twp Manager, send a letter to the Board of Supervisors, wait til the first Wednesday of next month and attend the Parks & Recreation meeting, or all of the above. Sorry for the long post but as always, any help is greatly appreciated!

Semper Fi!

http://www.lowerpaxton-pa.gov/index.html


Oh yeah, last night was also my first time OCing on public property too. Pretty fun

[rwilson452]

All of the above. I would also take the docs with me to the meeting with enough copies to go all around. I'm sure you will get a stall and an indication they will study the issue. You will need to keep the hammer going.

Hello Everyone,
I'm looking for some help in tackling my first preemption violation. Last night I decided to take my Lab-weiler for an enjoyable walk around the neighborhood. He is a big sissy that is scared of the dark so he insisted I arm myself before leaving the house. I grabbed my Glock inside a POS Fobus holster, my flashlight, and a PAFOA flyer just in case and off we went. Near the end of our circuit I was returning through Brightbill park I noticed a large sign with the park rules that I hadn't seen before. Right down near the bottom I see "Firearms and other weapons prohibited" signed the Lower Paxton Parks & Recreation Committee. I've found a form letter on this site along with examples of what others have done to correct this in the past but I wanted to see if anyone had any input on who I should contact first regarding this violation? Should I contact Parks & Recreation by phone, send a letter/email to the Twp Manager, send a letter to the Board of Supervisors, wait til the first Wednesday of next month and attend the Parks & Recreation meeting, or all of the above. Sorry for the long post but as always, any help is greatly appreciated!

Semper Fi!

http://www.lowerpaxton-pa.gov/index.html


Oh yeah, last night was also my first time OCing on public property too. Pretty fun

[FFEMT128]

I would concur on the all of the above. I would actually start with drafting a letter to the Parks commission. I would copy on this letter the borough/township manager and the president of council as it will likely end up in their hands anyhow.

Check out a copy of their ordinances, there may actually be an ordiance in effect that bars the possession of firearms in the park. If this is the case, council will need to act on the issue to have an update to the ordinance passed.

Attend parks commission and council meetings to bring the issue out in public where it will need to be discussed. Council meetings generally have a time set aside for public comments concerns.

[Curmudgeon]

I may have missed it due to my 'skimming' through this thread on my BlackBerry, but check the web site for the county parks before you do anything.

Backstory... I recently visited a York County Park near me and noticed a sign prohibiting weapons incl. firearms. This was a large case with glass front doors, and the park policies were merely printed on 2 large sheets of paper and tacked up inside.

I checked the web and discovered that policy HAD recently been changed, it's just that no one bothered to print a bew copy and hang it up.

Instead of a letter, I made a phone call instead, made no mention of firearms, just asked that they update the sign to reflect the recent changes.

One day soon I will go back and verify. It is just a thought.

Good luck!

[shefearsnothing]

I might actually be available to attend a meeting on a Wednesday if it comes to that. Send me a PM if that's the case and I'll see how our schedule looks when the day gets closer.

[ImminentDanger]

To the OP..... Good for you .... Go for it...


Here's the link to the Lower Paxton Township Pavilion Rental Application...

Page 2 has the Park Rules - Rule #10 is the offending item....

http://www.lowerpaxton-pa.gov/httpdo...est%20Form.pdf

...

[Dannytheman]

To the OP..... Good for you .... Go for it...


Here's the link to the Lower Paxton Township Pavilion Rental Application...

Page 2 has the Park Rules - Rule #10 is the offending item....

http://www.lowerpaxton-pa.gov/httpdo...est%20Form.pdf

...

In all honesty?? I see alcohol and guns being restricted to be wrong on public property. Why can't a legal aged person imbibe from a legal beer or cocktail?
So why can a public park make rules like these? Incredible.

[keystoneman 85]

I would send an email to everyone available.

Here is my thread on my inital email.
http://forum.pafoa.org/open-carry-14...lancaster.html

Here is my thread on the outcome and correspondence.
http://forum.pafoa.org/open-carry-14...ark-rules.html

Good luck and let me know if you need any help.

[HBGMarine]

Check out a copy of their ordinances, there may actually be an ordiance in effect that bars the possession of firearms in the park. If this is the case, council will need to act on the issue to have an update to the ordinance passed.

I checked the township ordinances online and there is nothing about weapons in the park so this shouldn't be too tough (hopefully).

I'm in the process of drafting a letter now and will update the thread once it has been completed.

Thanks everyone!

[mjfletcher]

I'd start with a phone call to parks and recreation. After speaking to someone there directly I'd then send a letter starting with something like "Pursuant to our telephone conversation of X/X/09 regarding the park rules prohibiting firearms...." and use certified/registered mail so they have to sign for it. You've made direct contact and sent a physical reminder with proof of receipt that their rules are a preemption violation.

From there, maintain contact with them through the person you spoke to first (or whoever they have call you back) either through email or phone AND attend every P&R meeting until the matter is resolved. First meeting I'd go either alone or only with other TWP residents. If the matter is not resolved by the next month have a couple of other county residents go with you. OC at each meeting, slowly building up the number of other people supporting you at each one (OC/CC/NC doesn't matter).

Start small and build up as needed, gives them a chance to do the right thing from the start, and if they don't it shows that the longer they take the more pressure will be on them.