Dickson City businesses banning guns

[GlockJock]

http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site...d=415898&rfi=6


Businesses banning guns
BY CHARLES SCHILLINGER
STAFF WRITER
05/25/2008
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DICKSON CITY — Police Chief William Stadnitski opened a letter Friday from Long John Silver’s and read again the same business policy he has seen two dozen times since a May 9 incident in his borough.





No guns allowed.

The Police Department has been querying businesses to see where people are allowed to carry weapons, and where it is prohibited by company policy.

The query follows an incident in which a dozen customers at Old Country Buffet were questioned by police for openly carrying guns. One person was detained and his gun confiscated.

To Chief Stadnitski’s surprise, the response from business owners has been overwhelmingly against allowing gun-carrying patrons in their establishments.

“And many, they’re not just saying ‘no.’ They’re very vocal about this,” he said. “We expected more businesses to allow it.”

The only Dickson City business that has said it will allow customers to carry firearms to date is Cartridge World, said Chief Stadnitski.

Dickson City solicitor William Jones said guns are also not allowed in schools and courthouses. He said municipalities have no power to regulate or restrict gun use.

“Any redress would have to come from the (state) Legislature,” Mr. Jones said.

State legislators largely did not return calls for comment on the gun-rights issue in Dickson City.

State Sen. Robert Mellow, D-Peckville, said any change in the gun legislation would be difficult, and he would not be in favor of it. Rep. Ed Staback, D-Archbald, who also represents Dickson City, made similar statements recently.

“Guns are not the problem. It’s some of the people who have them,” Mr. Mellow said. “If we were to restrict them further, then those who shouldn’t have guns would be the only ones who have them.”

Sen. Lisa Baker, whose district includes parts of Wayne, Luzerne, Susquehanna, Wyoming, Pike and Monroe counties, did not return a call, but released a short statement saying she supported the right of citizens to bear arms.

Almost a year ago, a Philadelphia state representative introduced a bill that would require strict gun-registration measures and require a $10-a-gun yearly tax.

The protests were immediate and, for fellow Democrats like Rep. Tim Seip, D-Schuylkill, uncomfortable. Mr. Seip’s district is often referred to as the “Cabela’s District” since it is home to the state’s only Cabela’s retail store. The business is one of the largest suppliers of hunting, fishing and other outdoor supplies.

“I think there is an overwhelming sentiment from my constituents ... to have them be less restrictive,” Mr. Seip said of existing laws.

He called a recent incident in which a Philadelphia police officer was shot “terrible,” but said more laws wouldn’t solve the issue despite people lobbying for just that.

“There are people in the commonwealth, constituents of my colleagues, who are very desperate to find an answer to the remedy of these acts by terrible, habitual criminals,” Mr. Seip said. “But those terrible acts won’t be remedied by more laws.”

The law states people have a right to openly carry weapons in public. But Chief Stadnitski said it is a business’s right to kick those people off the property if carrying a weapon there violates policies. He is encouraging businesses to post such policies for customers.

Anyone refusing to leave a business when asked by the owner can be arrested for defiant trespass.

Chief Stadnitski said the list of businesses that have opted to prohibit guns includes the entire Viewmont Mall and many larger chains, such as PetSmart, Borders, Sleepy’s, Home Depot and even Dick’s Sporting Goods, which sells gun-related products.

Because many of the larger chain businesses are waiting for responses from corporate headquarters, police have not finished compiling the list.

Chief Stadnitski said the police wanted that list so they know where in the borough they should respond should someone be openly carrying a gun. Otherwise, unless another law is broken, police will not respond to a report of a person carrying a gun in those businesses.

“Nobody wants trouble. They don’t want trouble, and certainly we don’t trouble, either,” he said.

Contact the writer: cschillinger@timesshamrock.com



©The Times-Tribune 2008

[Philadelphia]

Businesses banning guns
BY CHARLES SCHILLINGER
STAFF WRITER
05/25/2008
Email to a friendPost a CommentPrinter-friendly
DICKSON CITY — Police Chief William Stadnitski opened a letter Friday from Long John Silver’s and read again the same business policy he has seen two dozen times since a May 9 incident in his borough. . . .

If anyone can get ahold of that list, please post. We can post it on every pro 2A site there is nationwide.

None of the businesses that have such a policy will ever get a nickel of my business. If you want to do business in America, you have to respect the rights we all have. If you want to restrict those rights, move your business to New Jersey.

Right now, I will never set foot in a PetSmart, Borders, Sleepy’s, Home Depot or Dick's Sporting Goods ever again. Screw them. Who else is on that list?

[gnbrotz]

Criminals take note: Chief Stadnitski seems to be implying that the large majority of Dickson City is a 'Gun Free Zone'. Please leave your gun at home when you come here to commit crime, since all patrons of the listed businesses have done the same.

[fingers80002]

Criminals take note: Chief Stadnitski seems to be implying that the large majority of Dickson City is a 'Gun Free Zone'. Please leave your gun at home when you come here to commit crime, since all patrons of the listed businesses have done the same.

E-mail that to the paper.
Tell them this should be Sunday's Headline!!!!!!

[fingers80002]

If anyone can get ahold of that list, please post. We can post it on every pro 2A site there is nationwide.

None of the businesses that have such a policy will ever get a nickel of my business. If you want to do business in America, you have to respect the rights we all have. If you want to restrict those rights, move your business to New Jersey.

Right now, I will never set foot in a PetSmart, Borders, Sleepy’s, Home Depot or Dick's Sporting Goods ever again. Screw them. Who else is on that list?

Red Lobster is one.

[gnbrotz]

Red Lobster is one.

Keep in mind, that local management may have some flexibility in regards to corporate policy. Some may try to hide behind it, rather than have the courage to make it on their own, but a corporate policy won't keep my from patronizing a business if a particular locations permits me to remain armed.

For example, I've OC'd in my local PetSmart several times, and will continue to do so until I'm told otherwise. A Dickson City store telling me that corporate policy is "No Firearms" has no bearing on my actions here in Chambersburg unless and until I'm verbally told by someone at this store where I shop.

[BlownNitroPontiac]

If anyone can get ahold of that list, please post. We can post it on every pro 2A site there is nationwide.

Make a request in writing. It's that simple. The Pennsylvania Right-To-Know law makes anything that comes across the threshhold of a municipality a matter of public record.

Make the request of Borough Council, the Borough Solicitor and the Police Chief. See which one of them complies with your LEGAL request.

[BlownNitroPontiac]

Keep in mind, that local management may have some flexibility in regards to corporate policy.

Not if they wish to remain employed there, they don't.

[Statkowski]

Chief Stadnitski said the police wanted that list so they know where in the borough they should respond should someone be openly carrying a gun. Otherwise, unless another law is broken, police will not respond to a report of a person carrying a gun in those businesses.

Okay, so they "respond." And if a representative of the business never actually asked the firearms carrier to leave? What then?

As we have seen in the past, it appears Chief Stadnitski hasn't thought this one all the way out.

[reels18]

It seems the Chief likes egg on his face, or maybe he is trying to drum up some business by advertising to criminals. More crime equals a higher police budget.