Public packing

COEUR d'ALENE - Coeur d'Alene City Councilman Steve Adams predicted it might happen when the council voted last week to uphold the city's weapons ban during public events.

And it has already begun. Two people came to a city press conference Friday with handguns on their waists.

"I always carry," said Tina Kunishige, who plans to run for sheriff in 2016. "But I was doing it even before this issue came up."

Kunishige attended the public meeting with her husband, Chris, who was also packing a weapon.

After the conference, Coeur d'Alene's new Police Chief Lee White introduced himself to her, and she only had one question.

"Are you going to enforce the city's weapons ordinance?" she asked White.

"I haven't had the chance to get into the weeds on that issue yet," White responded, adding he wasn't going to do anything at the press conference.

The issue arose at the city's last council meeting when Adams asked the council to consider removing firearms language in the city's ordinance that prohibits a variety of weapons at parades and other public assemblies in the city.

Adams said state law prohibits cities and counties from imposing regulations concerning the possession of firearms. The council voted 3-2 to keep the ordinance on the books despite the state law passed by the Legislature in 2012.

Councilman Ron Edinger stated at the time that he preferred to have someone challenge the law and let the courts determine if the city's ordinance is legal.

The president of Idaho's Second Amendment Association, Greg Pruett, also said last week his organization plans to challenge the law.

That has been difficult because the city has rarely used the ordinance, and Pruett needs to find someone who has been cited for breaking the ordinance to get legal standing in court.

"Pretty much an individual would have to show up to a parade or public assembly and be asked to leave or get ticketed by law enforcement to get legal standing," he said in an interview last week, adding that his organization would financially back anyone wishing to challenge the law.

Christie Wood, spokesperson for CPD, said the law is pretty clear on what constitutes a public assembly or parade.

A parade is defined as: "Any dash, demonstration, march, marathon, meeting, motorcade, parade, procession, public assembly, race, rally, or like activity consisting of persons, animals, or vehicles or a combination thereof upon the streets within the city with an intent of attracting public attention that interferes with or has a tendency to interfere with the normal flow or regulation of traffic upon the streets."

A public assembly is defined as: "Any meeting, demonstration, rally or gathering of more than twenty-five (25) persons for a common purpose as a result of prior planning that interferes with or has a tendency to interfere with the normal flow or regulation of pedestrian or vehicular traffic or occupies any street."

The ordinance was not written for council meetings or anything like that, Wood said, adding the ordinance was written in the 1990s when the Aryan Nations began holding parades on Sherman Avenue.

The ordinance would cover events like Art on The Green, Car d'Lane and Ironman, but Wood said they rarely have any problems with weapons during those events.

"The ordinance is there if we need it," she said. "But, honestly, it is not an ordinance that is used very often. I can't even remember the last time we used it."

If more people start attending the events with weapons in order to challenge the ordinance, Wood said each situation will be dealt with depending on the circumstances.

"That will really be what determines what actions we will take," she said. "Our officers are there to enforce the laws - not interpret them."

As for the Kunishiges bringing weapons to the press conference, Wood said there was no problem with that.

"As far as I can tell, they are following the open-carry laws," she said.