Holly Springs bans open-carry of guns, deadly weapons in parks, town buildings

The Holly Springs Town Council gave preliminary approval to a ban on the open carrying of deadly weapons in public parks and town buildings.

The Tuesday night vote was 3-2 for the ordinance, or local order, which will return for a final vote Sept. 15 and take effect six months after that.

The ordinance will make it illegal to openly carry, possess or display deadly weapons, including guns, knives or blades longer than three inches, as well as BB guns and pellet guns in specific parks and town buildings in Holly Springs, which has about 38,000 people.

It will not prohibit the concealed carrying of weapons by people who have a concealed carry permit.

The six-month delay will ensure all residents can get whatever permits they need, Mayor Richard G. Sears said in a phone interview with The News & Observer. “It will allow the sheriff to catch up with the permitting process,” he said.

The Wake County Sheriff’s Office Office has received an unprecedented number of gun-permit applications since the coronavirus pandemic and local protests over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

The higher volume means it is taking longer to process applications, despite increased hours and staffing. A gun rights organization, Grass Roots North Carolina sued the sheriff’s office over the time it is taking to process gun permit applications.

People who violate the town’s new ordinance could face a class 3 misdemeanor, the lowest misdemeanor, and/or a fine. As an alternative, an officer could charge a violator with a town civil citation.

The town will put up signs designating where weapons are prohibited.

People exempt from the ordinance will include local, state and federal law enforcement officers, military personnel and security guards. If town employees or contractors require such weapons for their duties, they will be exempt too.

Raleigh, Cary, Morrisville, Garner, Wendell and Rolesville all restrict lawful concealed carry and open carry firearms both in city or town buildings and parks, according to a town of Holly Springs presentation. Only Zebulon has no firearm prohibitions in parks and town buildings, the presentation showed.

“It is not different from other ordinances across the county, across the state, across the nation,” said Aaron Wolff, the Holly Springs Town Council member who requested the ordinance in May.

“I strongly believe more guns in public places makes us less safe,” Wolff said in a phone interview. “It is something I championed as an advocate before I got elected.”

Concealed-carry ban rejected

According to agenda materials for Tuesday’s meeting, the Town Council “recognized that no provision exists in the current Code of Ordinances to regulate the open carry of firearms or other deadly weapons on Town property.”

In July, members voted to draft two ordinances: one prohibiting concealed carry in parks and town buildings and another prohibiting open carry.

The council rejected the concealed-carry ordinance and voted to defer the open-carry ordinance for revisions after hearing public comments at an Aug. 18 meeting. The revised ordinance eliminated the prohibition of open carry on greenways and specifically listed the parks in which the prohibition would apply.

“It would be almost impossible to monitor such a thing (concealed-carry weapons in parks),” Sears said in a phone interview Tuesday morning. He also said the town has never had a problem with concealed-carry gun owners.

“I was disappointed that my colleagues didn’t agree with me,” Wolff said about the concealed-carry ordinance being rejected. But he plans to bring it up again in the future.

Mark Valletta, a Raleigh gun owner, said people being more concerned about open-carry of weapons than concealed carry surprised him.

“I think it is rather amusing that anyone would be more concerned about open carry,” he said in an email Tuesday. “Logic would dictate that knowing who has a gun is preferable to not knowing who is armed.”

But others disagree with Valletta.

“It is really important for people to realize that open-carry is mostly used to intimidate people,” said Becky Ceartas, executive director of North Carolinians Against Gun Violence.

“We don’t need guns whether they are concealed carry or open carry where people work and play.” she said.

This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 2:17 PM with the headline "Holly Springs bans open-carry of guns, deadly weapons in parks, town buildings."