I was absolutely shocked this morning to read in the Lewiston Sun Journal out of Lewiston, Maine about the town of Norway deciding, willy-nilly from what I can tell, to ban guns at the town office.
A recent incident in town hall involving a weapon has prompted selectmen to adopt a policy prohibiting all municipal employees, except police officers, from bringing weapons into their workplace.
“It’s logical. It’s a simple statement. I really can’t say any more about it,” Selectmen Chairman Russ Newcomb said.
When the town opts to leave its citizens in the dark about what the incident was, not that it really matters, and makes ridiculous statements about their actions, they better be prepared for some serious backlash. Mr. Newcomb sounds a bit elitist and above the law in his statement. When an elected official(s) of any town decides to trump the state constitution and then refuse to talk about it, is someone who should not be holding office. It is for such actions, the forefathers wanted the citizens to remain armed in order to fight off tyranny.
Even town manager David Holt, who grew up in rural Greenwood, Maine, and someone I went to school with for a short time, has completely surprised me with his actions in this event.
Holt, who said he occasionally carries a jackknife, said he was not bothered by the change. He said he is considering asking selectmen to expand the policy by prohibiting the public from bringing weapons onto town property.
“In my experience there have been two incidents in my 30-odd years (in public service),” Holt said. “It’s not always employees. I’ve had times when citizens brought weapons to town hall and been threatening with them.”
And because Mr. Holt doesn’t have a problem with stripping Maine residents of their constitutional right to have a gun, it’s acceptable? And for 30-odd years he’s seen two incidents, that’s also reason to abandon people’s rights and put your actions above the constitution?
Even the Norway police chief says that because of the events “nationally”, he supports disarming Maine residents. Are you kidding me? What if our founding fathers thought that the best way to deal with the American revolution was to first disarm the citizens?
“I know people have different ideas of the way life should be,” Holt said, adding he is treading carefully on asking selectmen to expand the policy to nonemployees. He said he is concerned the policy might give outsiders the impression that Norway is something akin to Dodge City, Kan., in the late 19th century when people were told by lawmen such as Wyatt Earp to put down their guns when they entered the city.
And what, Mr. Holt? You think your actions are NOT sending that message? Even in the comments section of the article written in the Sun Journal, one readers makes that very statement.
Maybe Norway should have check points entering and leaving the town. Check everyone its such a great place to visit.Wait lets put arm guards at the point of entry how far will the people in goverment go before people stand up.
Having a different perspective on “the way life should be” has nothing at all to do with Second Amendment rights and the rights under the Maine Constitution. Municipalities should not have the right nor the power to simply sit down and one day enact a ban on weapons that super cede the constitution. And is Mr. Holt more concerned about what outsiders will think than his own constituency?
Holt says he wants to further investigate other places the town owns and see if he should post them to disallow guns. But finally, I am shocked by Holt’s statement that appears at the very end of the article.
Holt told selectmen the reason to keep weapons off town property is simple: “It’s unnecessary, unwanted and dangerous.”
And who died, Mr. Holt, and left you the dictator of the town of Norway, Maine? You, it appears, have become the supreme commander and have convinced your team of selectmen to believe that laws established under the United States and State of Maine Constitutions are “unnecessary” and “unwanted” and that law abiding citizens exercising that right are dangerous.
Shame on you and shame on the Norway Selectmen, the Norway Chief of Police and the Paris Police Chief.
Tom Remington
