Indiana_MSAA] Gun shop owner warns about workers’ safety

February 12, 2003

Council passes security rules
Gun shop owner warns about workers’ safety

By JAMES WENSITS
Tribune Political Writer

SOUTH BEND — An armed man who warned that passage of an ordinance
implementing new security procedures at the County-City Building
could turn government workers into “guaranteed victims” was heard
politely but ignored Tuesday as the St. Joseph County Council
unanimously approved the measure.

Len Grummell, owner of a South Bend gun shop and longtime gun rights
advocate, cited constitutional protections for gun owners and
recalled the helplessness of 9/11 victims as he attempted, without
success, to persuade council members to either defeat the measure or
to table it for further study.

The council session also became a forum for citizens’ rights advocate
Carole “Kelly” Havens, who questioned the advisability of passing the
proposed “wheel tax” even though the matter wasn’t on the agenda and
couldn’t, by County Council rules, be brought up for comment.

Although county security personnel began limited enforcement of the
County-City Building security measures Monday, Grummell managed to
enter the building Tuesday night armed with a semiautomatic handgun,
which he said he has a permit to carry.

Because the ordinance, which forbids weapons being carried into the
building, had not yet been passed, Grummell was allowed to keep his
weapon after displaying his permit to carry it. He said his right to
carry the gun is protected by the Second Amendment to the
Constitution and by the Indiana Constitution, which says, “The people
shall have the right to bear arms for the defense of themselves and
the state.”

Grummell hinted that others in the audience were also carrying
weapons, but none were displayed, including Grummell’s, and no one
else said he or she was armed. Recalling the helplessness of the 9/11
airplane passengers because they were unarmed, Grummell likened their
plight to that of county and city workers. “This is a large airliner,
gentlemen,” Grummell said of the government building.

Grummell was not alone in opposing the ordinance. Robert Krizmanich,
a Maple Road resident, told the council members that money spent on
providing more security for the County-City Building would be better
spent on providing more county police road patrol cars.

Havens also chimed in, accusing the council of creating a security
risk by essentially telling muggers that those citizens attending
late-night meetings at the government building are unarmed and thus
easy victims.

Grummell and others asked that the ordinance be modified to allow gun-
carrying employees and visitors to the building to put their weapons
in lockboxes, where they could be collected when leaving. But County
Police Chief Deputy David Nufer, who praised the council members for
their “excellent job” in crafting the bill, said lockboxes are “not
an idea we want to entertain” because of the potential for accidental
discharge should a weapon be dropped.

Council Member Mark Catanzarite, D-District G, said lockboxes will be
provided for those employees authorized to carry weapons, but not for
visitors. Catanzarite said he disagreed with detractors and believes
the council stands “on strong legal ground” in passing the
ordinance. “Our whole effort is primarily for the safety of visitors
and employees,” said Council Member David Niezgodski, D-District E.

The council vote included passage of an amendment that extended the
definition of law enforcement officers to include an extensive list
of federal, state and local officers allowed to carry weapons while
on duty. The amendment also exempted county judges and magistrates
from having to pass through metal detectors when entering the
building. Council President Rafael Morton, D-District D, said the
amendment was passed because the council knew the judges wanted the
exemption and because the judges have that right.

Havens used the public comment period at the end of the council
session to bring up tax issues. Knowing that the public hearing on
the so-called wheel tax is set for March 11 and that no public
discussion of the measure was to be allowed, Havens simply brought up
past passage of county option tax ordinances and used those measures
to question the need for any new taxes. The wheel tax measure calls
for a surtax on vehicle registration — $25 on most passenger
vehicles and up to $35 on heavy trucks.

“Our option taxes have grown to some $30 million annually,” Havens
told council members, “$18.8 million of it going into your budget.
Yet you don’t have enough?”

Havens said that the option tax ordinances were sold to the public in
part on the premise that some of the money could be used for road
projects and repairs. “What 18 million other things took precedence
over your promises to us?” she asked.

Council members did not respond directly to Havens, but later
defended use of option tax funds on such projects as construction of
the new county jail, construction of the new juvenile justice
facility and providing infrastructure for such job-producing projects
as the expansion of the AM General plant in Mishawaka, producer of
the Hummer H2 vehicle.

“We are not wasting government tax dollars,” Niezgodski told a
reporter. Morton said the need to replace the former county jail and
the former Parkview juvenile facility represented the primary
motivation for the option tax passage. Catanzarite said option tax
funds have also been used to improve county ambulance services,
particularly to outlying areas.