Public Pool Gun Ban Erased So You Can ‘Defend Yourself’ At Parks

A public pool gun ban is not allowed based upon an amendment intended to reduce gun control measure in Virginia.

In Charleston, West Virginia, the gun laws — including a ban on guns in city parks, pools and recreation centers — are are being contested in a long-standing push to deny cities the power to regulate guns.

West Virginia Delegate Patrick Lane sneaked a gun control erasure amendment into an unrelated state bill, now passed, that will likely force Charleston to get rid of public pool gun bans. The state legislature packaged the public area gun ban rollback requirement with a popular measure giving Charleston more leeway in how it raises taxes.

When asked why anyone would want to bring a gun to a public pool, Patrick Lane said, “Crime could happen anyplace. You obviously want to be able to defend yourself and your family if something happens.”

Charleston’s mayor, Danny Jones, who is a proponent of tougher gun control restrictions, said the city now has no choice but to get rid of the public pool gun bans.

Steve Walker, president of the West Virginia branch of the Fraternal Order of Police, believes getting rid of the public pool gun ban may not help guns rights groups, saying, “I don’t know whether repealing it is going to help them or hurt them.”

Gun rights advocates argue that allowing cities like Charleston to maintain their own gun control laws creates an impossible situation for law-abiding gun owners, who cannot be expected to read ordinances for every city they might pass through.

Former police chiefs say they’re worried about losing the ban on guns in public places that attract kids. But critics of gun control laws claim gun bans in public areas do not work.

Do you think public pool gun bans are a fair type of gun control laws?