At least, that's what a South Bend man was told when he showed up at the firehouse that is his neighborhood polling place. Election workers turned him away.
Supposedly, there's a local ordinance that restricts the public carrying of firearms...except it seems some folks in South Bend have forgotten Indiana's not-all-that-recent preemption of local gun laws by the State Legislature. Ooopsie!
...Also lawsuit, with a familiar name doing the heavy lifting.
And for the record, yes, in Indiana you can carry a gun to your polling place unless is in one of a very short list of facilities where carry is never allowed (schools, Post Offices, courthouses, etc.). Might make for an interesting day, at least 'til they start figuring out the rules have changed, but you can do it.
(H/T to the local TV news.)
I'm a poll worker down in Florida, where State law prohibits firearms in all polling places. Our joke is that it's for reasons of public sanitation: given the candidates these days, a voter with a gun might be tempted to end it all right there in the voting booth - and we'd have to clean it up.
ReplyDeleteJohn: I assumed it was because the voting machines have to be replaced more frequently. I know I've wanted to take a baseball bat to the machines here sometimes.
ReplyDeleteWe don't get to carry while we vote here in Texas, God knows why. If I'm not going to turn into a violent, law-breaking criminal in Walmart on a Saturday morning, I'm certainly not going to lose my mind at a polling place.
ReplyDelete(Way out here in the middle of nowhere, you might see five people at the polling place if you can get there somewhat early on a weekday like I do.)
Just another reason why I like Voting the Absentee Ballot.
ReplyDeleteTAMMANY HALL was challenged one November by a strong reform party candidate the situation was in doubt
ReplyDeletein ye olden days poll watchers and many good citizens went armed just in case
'
Tammany's boss decried the "crime & violence" afflicting the city to one the Solons in Tammany's employ to do something about the situation at once!
the results were the infamous "Sullivan Act" which provided the local chief of police to allow the issuance of permits to restrict the
carrying of sidearms to citizens that
he determined to be of "good character" in order to stem the
violence
the police chief was appointed by
Tammany so the "right" people got the
permits and the miscreants without paper who carried went to visit upstate institutions at taxpayer ex pence for 1 to 7
some districts had allegations of "voter fraud" 130 % voter turnout
but as one district leader put it "just because some of my constituents are recently deceased that should not deprive them from voting"
the reform ticket do-gooders were buried by a landslide
When I voted early in Medina Co., TX the only thing prohibited inside was cell phones.
ReplyDelete