HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018_7_11_Local_Law_No_5
Local Law No. 5 - 2018
This local law shall be known as the “Banning of Firearms within specified Town Buildings”
Law.
BE IT ENACTED by the Town Board of the Town of Mamaroneck
Section 1 – Purpose:
The Town Board is aware of the country’s current plague of shootings of, and other types of
attacks on, innocent persons in schools, in the workplace, in places of worship, in other public
places, and in homes. The Town Board recognizes that it cannot solve this problem and is
mindful of the right to bear arms given to the people by the Second Amendment to the United
States Constitution and by New York Civil Rights Law § 4. Balanced against these rights is the
Town’s objective of providing a safe work environment for Town employees and a safe place
for visitors to Town buildings. Weighing these competing points, the Town Board finds that
safety is paramount. Therefore this law bans possession of firearms within the Town Buildings
identified in this local law by persons, other than those permitted to do so by this law.
Section 2 – Creation of a new article in a current chapter of the Mamaroneck Code:
Chapter 100 of the Code of the Town of Mamaroneck hereby is amended to add the following
Article III to it:
Chapter 100
Article III: Firearms Banned in Town Buildings
§ 100-7. Legislative Intent.
The Town Board is aware of the country’s current plague of shootings of, and other types of
attacks on, innocent persons in schools, in the workplace, in places of worship, in other public
places, and in homes. The Town Board recognizes that it cannot solve this problem and is
mindful of the right to bear arms given to the people by the Second Amendment to the United
States Constitution and by New York Civil Rights Law § 4. Balanced against these rights is the
Town’s objective of providing a safe work environment for Town employees and a safe place
for visitors to Town buildings. Weighing these competing points, the Town Board finds that
safety is paramount. Therefore this law bans possession of firearms within the Town Buildings
identified in this article by persons, other than those permitted to do so by this law.
In enacting this law, the Town Board is relying on the oft-quoted phrase from the United States
Supreme Court’s decision in District of Columbia v Heller, 554 US 570, 626 (2008):
“Although we do not undertake an exhaustive
historical analysis today of the full scope of the
Second Amendment, nothing in our opinion
should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding . . .
laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in
sensitive places such as schools and government
buildings . . . .”
and the Supreme Court’s reiteration of that proposition in McDonald v City of Chicago, Illinois,
561 US 742, 786 (2010) (“We made it clear in Heller that our holding did not cast doubt on such
longstanding regulatory measures as . . . ‘laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive
places such as schools and government buildings . . . .’ ”).
Preceding Heller and McDonald, the Attorney General of the State of New York, in Informal
Opinion No. 89-75, opined that a village, when acting in its proprietary capacity, could ban
possession of firearms within Village Hall. In reaching this conclusion, the Attorney General
relied upon Barrett v Kunzig, 331 F. Supp. 266, 272 (M.D. Tenn 1971), cert den, 409 US 914 (1972)
which had observed: “\[I\]t would seem clear that the United States Government and its
custodian, General Services Administration, could make use of its property as could any private
citizen with his home. Hence, it could prevent entry or make such conditions as it deemed
proper as a precedent to entry.”
After Heller, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals faced a case where banning the possession of
firearms on government property was the issue. In Bonidy v United States Postal Serv., 790 F3d
1121 (10th Cir. 2015), the Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of the section of the
Code of Federal Regulations that prohibits carrying firearms while on property belonging to the
United States Postal Service (39 CFR § 232.1 \[l\]) against a challenge from a person with a permit
to carry a concealed weapon.
Although the United States Postal Service (USPS) is an arm of the government and not a private
company, the Court noted:
“As a government-owned business acting as a
proprietor rather than as a sovereign, the USPS has
broad discretion to govern its business operations
according to the rules it deems appropriate. . . .
\[T\]he bans \[on possession of firearms\] struck down
in Heller and McDonald . . . regulated wholly
private activity and applied to every citizen within
the respective jurisdictions. By contrast, the
regulation challenged here applies only to discrete
parcels of land owned by the U.S. Postal Service,
and affects private citizens only insofar as they are
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doing business with the USPS on USPS property.
And the regulation is directly relevant to the
USPS’s business objectives, which include
providing a safe environment for its patrons and
employees.”
Bonidy, 790 F3d at 1126-27.
Finally, this law is compatible with the federal statute (18 USC § 930) that, with certain
exceptions, bans the possession of firearms within those buildings owned or leased by the
Federal government where employees of the federal government are regularly present for the
purpose of performing their official duties.
The Town Board, acting in its proprietary capacity as owner of the Town Buildings defined
below, enacts the following ban on the possession of firearms in those Town Buildings.
§ 100-8. Definitions
For the purpose of this article, the following terms have these meanings:
“exempt person” means
(a) police officers as that term is defined in subdivision thirty-four of section 1.20 of the
NY Criminal Procedure Law,
(b) peace officers as that term is defined in section 2.10 of the NY Criminal Procedure
Law,
(c) individuals in the service of the United States who, whether in pursuit of their official
duty, or when authorized by federal law, regulation or order are authorized to
possess a firearm, and
(d) employees of banking institutions or armored transportation companies whose jobs
require them to transport cash, but only when they are performing their duties for
their employer.
A person who is an exempt person pursuant to either paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of this section has
that status under this law whether the person is on-duty or off-duty. A retired police officer or a
retired peace officer shall be an exempt person under this law, if that officer possesses
identification that meets the requirements of the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004
(Chapter 44 of Title 18 of the United States Code) or any federal statute that replaces the Law
Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004 with respect to the requirements for a retired police
officer or a retired peace officer to carry a concealed firearm.
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“firearm” means an instrument meeting the description contained in any one of the following
paragraphs of section 265.00 of the NY Penal Law:
(1): Machine-gun
(3): Firearm
(11): Rifle
(12): Shotgun
(15-a): Electronic dart gun
(15-c): Electronic stun gun
(20): Disguised gun
(21): Semiautomatic
(22): Assault weapon.
“firearm” also includes BB guns, pellet guns, paint ball guns and air pistols or rifles.
“Town Building” means the buildings and improvements known by these names and/or postal
addresses, but not the parking lots that are adjacent thereto:
(a) the Town Center located at 740 West Boston Post Road, Mamaroneck, NY 10543
(b) the Hommocks Park Ice Rink located at 140 Hommocks Road, Larchmont, NY 10538
(c) the Weaver Street Firehouse located at 205 Weaver Street, Larchmont, NY 10538
(d) the Ambulance District Building located at 155 Weaver Street, Larchmont, NY 10538
(e) the Highway Garage Building located at 40 Maxwell Avenue, Larchmont, NY 10538
(f) the Parks Building located within Memorial Park
(g) the Senior Citizen Center located at 1228 Boston Post Road, Larchmont, New York
10538
(h) the Sheldrake Environmental Center located at 685 Weaver Street, Larchmont NY
10538.
§ 100-9. Illegal possession
It is a violation of this law for any person, other than an Exempt person, to possess a firearm
when in a Town Building.
§ 100-10. Resident Custodians
Notwithstanding section 100-9, the custodian who resides at the Senior Citizen Center and the
adult members of that custodian’s family are allowed to possess within the Senior Citizen
Center the firearms which that person is licensed to possess, and the custodian who resides at
the Sheldrake Environmental Center and the adult members of that custodian’s family are
allowed to possess within the Sheldrake Environmental Center the firearms which that person
is licensed to possess.
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§ 100-11. Signage
Notice of this law’s ban on the possession of firearms in Town Buildings shall be posted
conspicuously at each public entrance to a Town Building. No person shall be convicted of
violating this article if such notice is not so posted, unless such person had actual notice of the
ban.
§ 100-12. Penalty
A person who violates this article shall be charged with a violation and if convicted shall be
punished by a fine of not less than five hundred and no/ths ($500.00) dollars and not more than
one thousand and no/ths ($1,000.00) dollars.
Section 3 – Severability:
Should any provision of this Local Law be declared invalid or unconstitutional by any court of
competent jurisdiction, such declaration of unconstitutionality or invalidity shall not affect any
other provisions of this Local Law, which may be implemented without the invalid or
unconstitutional provisions.
Section 4 – Effective Date:
This Local Law shall become effective upon filing with the Secretary of State.
July 11, 2018
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