Longmont City Council unanimously passed a statement on legislation affecting public safety, especially related to gun control.
The statement, which was approved Tuesday, outlines last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Second Amendment regarding gun legislation and the resulting lawsuit against Boulder County and three local municipalities that tried to pursue local gun laws. It commits Longmont to analysis and statewide solutions rather than local regulation.
The statement expands beyond gun legislation to include other state laws that the city believes has impacted public safety.
“As the city council discussed this changing landscape with our public safety staff, it became clear that other state changes to laws over the past five years have created an environment where people are not held accountable for their actions of violence,” the statement reads. “While we started our focus on mass shootings, we realized that other crime has increased in our community, including car thefts, drug offenses and gun violence.”
The statement adds that increasing the age of gun purchases, banning ghost guns, expanding areas where open carry is prohibited or establishing a waiting period for gun purchases would not have made a difference in many of these threats to public safety.
The council commits to the following actions with the statement:
- Provide a thorough analysis of the current state laws as well as judicial actions and how they are affecting crime in Longmont
- Determine what recommendations the city has for partners at the state for legislative solutions and meet with them to share concerns and suggestions
- Lobby for additional addiction and mental health treatment options and funding for people who are released from the court system
- Engage with the community to share what the city learns and invite public participation in designing a process for actually reducing risks of gun and other forms of violence in Longmont.
Several members of the public spoke on the statement, with opinions ranging from those asking for stronger action to those requesting the council not pass the statement at all.
“No matter what laws you pass, criminals will always get their guns,” Steve Altschuler said, adding that disarming citizens will not make people safer.
Another member of the community urged the council to reject the statement, calling it cowardly, inaccurate and useless.
“Have the courage to do your jobs and increase Longmont’s waiting period and expand restrictions on open carry in Longmont,” Polly Christensen said. “Please act.”
Others, including representatives of Moms Demand Action, commended the council for bringing back the topic and asked for more advocacy to ensure things begin to change.
Councilmember Sean McCoy emphasized that, to him, this statement was the start of the city’s work to improve public safety around guns.
“I do not see it as the end of the discussion but the beginning of what I hope is a step in the right direction,” he said.
After the vote, Mayor Joan Peck expressed her wish that the statement could have included some more drastic language about gun control measures.
“I am a person of action, and I think that having 10-day waiting periods does not affect the second amendment as far as the Constitution goes and signage on any establishment that sells guns,” she said. “That does not take away anybody’s rights, so I was very unhappy that we couldn’t even say that as leaders in the community.”
