Preemption violation: Metal detector to be installed at West Mifflin council chambers

[Pa. Patriot]

Call to action

20 Jan 2009

Background

Seems the borough manager has taken it upon himself to save the world by having a metal detector installed at council chambers despite it being clearly unlawful to do so.

Newspaper article:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08346/934173-55.stm

Metal detector to be installed at West Mifflin council chambers
Thursday, December 11, 2008
By Mary Niederberger, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In the new year, those who attend West Mifflin council meetings will have to pass through a metal detector to enter council chambers.

West Mifflin council last month unanimously approved a motion authorizing borough Manager Howard Bednar to buy a metal detector and have it installed at one of the two entrances to council chambers. The other entrance will likely be locked, borough officials said.

Mr. Bednar said he knew of no other suburban council in the area that requires people to pass through a metal detector to attend a meeting.

"It's something that may get a lot of publicity," Mr. Bednar said.

He said no incidents of violence have occurred at borough council meetings and that council is acting proactively on the matter.

Council Vice President Arlene Jabbour said council has been talking about getting a metal detector for the past two years.

"It just seems like it's time for us to do something because how the world is now, anything can happen," Mrs. Jabbour said. "Safety is first for council and residents who come here."

Mr. Bednar said police Chief Joseph Popovich is checking with Allegheny County officials to learn the guidelines for using the metal detector in the County Courthouse.

Mr. Bednar said xthe walk-through metal detector in West Mifflin will be portable and will be placed at the entrance to council chambers when meetings are held and removed when the meetings are over.

The machine will be staffed by a borough police officer.

Mr. Bednar said council has not yet decided if it also will purchase a metal-detecting wand in addition to the walk-through detector.

A wand, he said, could be used by the officer for a further examination of a person who sets off the walk-through dectector's alarm.

The borough manager expects council to make that decision at next week's meeting in addition to decisions about where the detector will be placed and what procedures will be followed in using it.

The metal detector could be in place for the Jan. 20 council meeting, he said

Mr. Bednar also said the school board could use the metal detector because the board meets in the same chambers.

Mr. Bednar and Mrs. Jabbour said they expect some people who have artificial joints may set off the detector's alarm.

"I have two knees that have been replaced," Mrs. Jabbour said. "I get beeped at airports all of the time and get pulled aside. I carry a card that explains everything."

Mr. Bednar said people who have a permit to carry a gun still will be required to leave their weapons outside of council chambers.

"We are not saying you cannot have a gun, but we are saying you can't have it in this assembly here. I think we do have the right to say this is our meeting and you cannot bring a gun in here," Mr. Bednar said.

Mrs. Jabbour said council's decision to buy the metal detector has nothing to do with allegations that West Mifflin resident Diane Stanesic threatened Councilwoman Rhonda Popovich.

In October, Glassport Magisterial District Judge Edward Burnett ordered Mrs. Stanesic to have no contact with Mrs. Popovich after the councilwoman filed harassment and terroristic threat charges against Ms. Stanesic.

The judge told Mrs. Stanesic that she could continue to attend West Mifflin council meetings but could not address Mrs. Popovich directly.

Mrs. Popovich said that Mrs. Stanesic left threatening phone messages at the Popovich home. The councilwoman said the messages were left after a council discussion about the police department and after a private council session in which Mrs. Stanesic was discussed as one of five candidates for a seat on the sewer authority.

Mrs. Jabbour has also said she received a nasty phone call from Mrs. Stanesic.

Mrs. Stanesic's attorney, Victor Pribanic, has said his client's phone calls were not harassment but were "legitimate communication."

The legal case against Ms. Stanesic has been continued until Tuesday when Judge Burnett asked the parties involved to reconvene. In the meantime, police Chief Edward Popovich, Mrs. Popovich's husband, has been providing police escorts into and out of council meetings for his wife and Mrs. Jabbour.

Mrs. Jabbour said Mrs. Stanesic continues to attend council meetings.

Mary Niederberger can be reached at mniederberger@post-gazette.com or 412-851-1512.
First published on December 11, 2008 at 12:00 am

(Fair use)
____________________________________________

What do we do?

Below is the letter Mike Stollenwerk sent to borough manager Bednar as well as the two newspapers that had reported on this issue.

Dear Mr. Bednar:

I was shocked to read at http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08346/934173-55.stm that you have advised Borough Council that they have the authority to ban gun carry at borough council meetings.

The Borough most certainly does NOT have this authority as Section 6120 of the Uniform Firearms Act of Pennsylvania specifically states that "[n]o county, municipality or township may in any manner regulate the lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of firearms, ammunition or ammunition* components when carried or transported for purposes not prohibited by the laws of this commonwealth." 18 Pa.c.S Section 6120.

In 1996 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held in Ortiz v. Commonwealth that there are no implied home rule exceptions to 18 Pa.c.S Section 6120 given that the Pennsylvania Constitution commands that the right to bear arms "shall not be questioned." Ortiz v. Commonwealth, 681 A.2d 152 (1996), available at http://paopencarry.org/Ortiz-v-Commonwealth.

I ask you to kindly inform the Borough Council that if the Borough wastes money on metal detectors that the Borough is still without authority to ban gun carry in the West Mifflin Municipal Building, it's council meetings, or that of the school board. Further, as, like most states, no permit is needed to open carry handguns in Pennsylvania, and therefore metal detectors will not even be useful to force gun owners to show "permits" unless they choose to conceal carry.

The unlawful proposal to ban gun carry at the West Mifflin Municipal Building will attract the attention of gun owners across Pennsylvania and any such policy will be challenged. Any harassment or unlawful arrest of persons attempting to enter the West Mifflin Municipal Building while lawfully and peaceably carrying guns will most likely be met with swift legal action as is now ongoing in many states, including Dickson City, Allentown, and Lebanon. Such suits will be costly to West Mifflin taxpayers, and accordingly it would be most beneficial for you to look into correcting the record in this matter.

Please let me know what you are going to do.

Sincerely,

Mike Stollenwerk
co-founder, OpenCarry.org

cc: Rich Banks, PAOpenCarry.org

I am in contact with them as well to advise them of our intent to make public comments at their Jan 20 meeting in regards to this violation of Title 18 and that if needed our intent to challenge this action legally if they do not immediately remedy this error.

Supposedly they plan to have the metal detector installed by the regular Jan. 20 meeting and presumably figure out some policy to use it on-the-fly, so to say.
We need people to attend this meeting to participate in public comment to make clear to borough council that this regulation of firearms on public property is unlawful per 18Pa.C.S.6120 and that gun owners are prepared to launch a legal stand against them which will be very costly for them and impossible to win. Open carry is specifically encouraged. No need to go through a metal detector if you are not hiding anything, right?
This violation by West Mifflin affects all legal gun carriers, CC or OC. They seek to challenge you at the entrance and make issue of your legal firearms carry in front of everyone. Firearms carry that is clearly protected by state law against exactly this type of action by a borough.

Despite the announcement to abandon their plans, we are still planning to show up, reinforce the illegality of their original proposal and hopefully witness the formal abandonment of their earlier decisions (via a new vote).

West Mifflin Borough Council chambers are located at:

3000 Lebanon Church Rd
West Mifflin, PA 15122

Google map here.

The meeting begins at 6:30. We (Greg and Rich) plan to be there shortly after 6:00. We will have a time for food and fellowship following the meeting at Hoss's (map at link). This location is just under 3 miles from the meeting location.
HOSS's is expecting us around 7:30 or 8PM.
Even if you can not make the council meeting feel free to join us for dinner.

Roll call
Gnbrotz
Pa. Patriot
lildobe
Kimba
Mtn. Jack
Mrs. Mtn. Jack
Falcon118 (maybe +1)
BigMikeM31 (tentative, may be late)
imperialism2024 (tentative)
krystalzip +1
Carnes (tentative - seeking a gas rider)
Shawn.L
edstephan and wife +1
Kim Stolfer
Whitefeather
Emptymag (may be late or miss meeting, but hopes to join us at Hoss's)
JGeezer1986 (hopes to make meeting, definitely joining us at Hoss's)
Ed in PA

[edstephan]

The 20th is this coming Saturday. Which is it Friday the 19th or Saturday the 20th. I'll get the day off if it is Friday, either way I'll be there OC'ing sterile of course. Also what time???
Ed

[Pa. Patriot]

Ugh, I confused the Jan. 20 meeting in the article with the next meeting which is December 16th (TUES)

[edstephan]

Crap, I'll be in Indiapolis, Indiana till Thursday the 18th and will not be able to make it. I used to live on the Duquesne/West Mifflin border.
Ed

[Statkowski]

It's a two-hour drive for me, and I don't get home until meeting time. But, I did e-mail the newspaper reporter pointing out the state preemption statute.

Sure would make a nice lawsuit against the borough! Call it Dickson City West or something catchy.

Firearms were prohibited at the Kirkwood, Missouri council meetings. Five dead (two of them the police officers "guarding" the place), two wounded. Police eventually killed the miscreant, but not before he did his damage.

[Emptymag]

"We are not saying you cannot have a gun, but we are saying you can't have it in this assembly here. I think we do have the right to say this is our meeting and you cannot bring a gun in here," Mr. Bednar said.

I think we do have the right to take rapists to the town square and beat them about the face with an axe handle, BUT GUESS WHAT?

We DON'T have the "right" to do so... It's against the law!



They really can't see the difference between feelings and rights.

[Pa. Patriot]

Since they have obviously already ordered it.... How many K does a metal detector cost???

Nice job borough solicitor

[Pa. Patriot]

Another article on the topic.

Can you spot all the instances of FAIL in this?:

West Mifflin Council OKs metal detectors at its chambers
By Craig Smith
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, November 19, 2008

West Mifflin Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to install a metal detector at the entrance to its second-floor chambers at the borough building.

"It's the world that we live in, unfortunately. Better to be safe than sorry," Councilwoman Rhonda Popovich said before the meeting.

Council members said the idea to install the detector was not in response to any particular threat or incident. Everyone attending meetings, including council members, will be required to walk through the device, which is expected to cost about $3,600.

story continues below


"It's something we've been talking about," Popovich said. Cameras were installed in the room several months ago.

Councilman Richard Olasz Sr., a former state representative, said the expenditure was not included in this year's budget.

Metal detectors have been installed at some schools throughout the region and are used at courthouses and other government buildings.

Metal detectors have been used at borough council meetings in the southeast part of the state, said Ed Troxell, director of government affairs at the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs.

"It's not all that uncommon, but it's not a trend. It sounds like a little bit of forward thinking," he said.

Most municipalities turn to police departments to keep order at meetings, said David Perruso, mayor of Wilson in Northampton County and president of the Association of Mayors of the Boroughs of Pennsylvania.

"When people have problems, they usually have a police officer there," he said.

Craig Smith can be reached at csmith@tribweb.com or 412-380-5646.
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[The_Game]

Can't count that high, sorry.

[Pa. Patriot]

WoW

Check out the conversation about this on topix

Seems the woman that they claim is the inspiration for these metal detectors is being dragged through the mud. I'd say damn neer libel if half this stuff is true.

http://www.topix.com/city/west-miffl...t-mifflin-case