In a recent work session, the Orange County commissioners heard a presentation by the county attorney on the legal ramifications of passing a “gun discharge ordinance.” This is a subject of discussion ostensibly because of some citizens who appeared and complained about hearing gunfire near their residential development. At least, that is the excuse the county is using to justify their new effort to “create a safe environment for residents”…by toying with designating ‘zones’ whereby a ‘gun discharge’ ordinance would be in effect based on ‘resident density.’
The problem, as outlined in the longer exchange – is that Orange County North Carolina is a largely rural county…and gun “discharges” that are not continuous or injurious are…simply not prosecutable crimes.
In one of the more interesting exchanges, the Sheriff is asked to elaborate on this question about enforcement, and must inform the board of this fact. It seems Mark Dorosin (Democrat) gets flustered at his constitutional limitations and not understanding why it is so problematic to direct the sheriff to send his men to enforce their petty “laws”.
In this case, it is made clear that the difficulty in creating a legal requirement to enforce, the county begins flirting with direct physical confrontation with it’s purported subjects (who happen to be armed)… also known in some circles as civil war.
Proceed by Inquiry.
