BUCYRUS — Once again, multiple people filled the Bucyrus City Hall council chambers as the joint committees met to discuss multiple items on the agenda, with the sanctuary city once again being the hot topic of the meeting.
Brandi Lupton was the first to address council on the issue.
“In 1787, delegates from our standing 13 states had an idea to fix a weakened government system by writing the Constitution of the United States of America to establish the rights of citizens and to put the power of the government into the hands of the people, and to establish checks and balances to ensure that no branch of government had more power over another,” Lupton said. “Among those rights, is the right to free speech—to speak freely as an American and to voice your concern. I will say, however, that if you are against upholding the Second Amendment, then you need to not be ready to speak with your first.”
Lupton said the best way to have a voice is to not react, but to act before an action is taken.
“I stand here today using my First Amendment right to speak about the Second Amendment, however, how many more of our amendments are at risk,” Lupton said. “I understand Ohio has removed the ‘red flag’ gun law, but I will emphasize the words, ‘for now.’ These laws not only attack our Second Amendment, but the fourth, that protects us from illegal search and seizure; the fifth, that protects our rights to due process; the sixth, that gives us the right to face our accuser and obtain witnesses; and the seventh that is our right to a trial by jury before being determined guilty. I am not naïve enough to realize that if they are willing to remove five of our constitutional rights with one law, just how farfetched can it be that they will go after others? I do believe that not declaring us a sanctuary city will send a message that our citizens are defenseless and will invite further crime to our city.”
Wes Pollock was another citizen to address council on wanting to turn Bucyrus into a Second Amendment sanctuary city.
“Declaring a Second Amendment sanctuary city/county is not making it a lawless county or city, and it’s not saying you can do whatever you want or have whatever weapons you want,” Pollock said. “Even then, a 30-round magazine, if people are worried about that with the Second Amendment sanctuary, you can do a lot more damage with a car than you can with a mag. So, this is protecting our rights that we have right now.”
Max Miller was one of the individuals who spoke against turning Bucyrus into a sanctuary city.
“I’m recently enjoying becoming a new dad, and if I am looking at two similar places to go on vacation, I’m probably not going to go to the one that is the Second Amendment sanctuary city because there might be a lot of good guys with guns, but there might also be a lot of bad guys with guns,” Miller said. “I am for having legislation that would keep guns out of the hands of people who want to do harm, and I’m not against anyone having guns—I think you should be able to defend your family and your property, and I don’t want to take your constitutional right from you. I like all of the amendments, I don’t like the one where they got rid of alcohol, but they brought it back so that was great. Again, I am not for the sanctuary city because it doesn’t do anything, and nothing is going to happen because you are still going to have your Second Amendment rights.”
One of the others to address council on opposing the sanctuary city was Linda Cooperider.
“Nobody wants to take your guns, that is not what any of these laws are about. The ‘red flag’ law they kept talking about putting in was to protect people,” Cooperider asid. “There is a family in the Columbus area that I know where the husband graduated from West Point, captain in the U.S. Army, three tours in Afghanistan, and a bronze star medalist. He came back with injuries, and all of the pain and anguish got to him and he snapped. His wife had to wrestle him to the ground, in front of his children, to get the gun out of his hands and away from his head. That was only the first time, it happened again four months later. There is no law on the books that says that that man is not allowed to have a gun—he was sent to Florida for treatment for two months. There is no law that says he can’t have a gun. I want it on the books for all of us, his wife, his children, and his neighbors.”
In total, 19 people addressed council on the issue. Council members said they do not want to make any haste decisions, so they will not vote to move it to council until they have more information on it and can better understand it.
Also, at the meeting, representatives from Ohio Mutual spoke on rezoning that area, and wanting to have a gym on their property for their staff to use. There will be a public hearing March 10 at 6 p.m.
Ron Smith, who is a part-owner of Baker’s Pizza, came to council to show what they will do with city parking lot no. 2, should they purchase it like they want to.
They will be adding another parking lot that will not only create more parking but will also help with the flow of traffic. They are looking at potentially putting a patio for outdoor dining when the weather is nice, on the south end of the building by the parking lots, and they are also looking at making that side of the building more handicap accessible. This will be brought back up and discussed in two weeks when there are enough members in the public lands and buildings committee present.
Council’s next meeting is Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. and the next joint committee meeting is Feb. 20 at 6 p.m.