Multimedia Reporting (Kuhr-Musser)

A 27-year-old Eudora man couldn’t believe Lawrence Police simply seized his MAK-90 semiautomatic rifle from the trunk of his car. He thought the Second Amendment would have protected against such seizure.

The man had been trying to sell his gun at a pawnshop last Friday evening when police received a call about his rifle. It lay in the open trunk of the man's car, which was parked in a city lot at 825 New Hampshire. Police seized the weapon and cited the man for having a gun within 200 feet of a bar.

The citation came under the recent revision to city ordinance 7976. At the Lawrence Journal-World's website, the man posted his frustration anonymously on a message board.

“I would like to give my apologies to all of those people who live on Mass. Street . . . because all of their Second Amendment rights have been violated with the passing of this law,” he wrote. "I think that the comissioners, once again, passed a hasty, ineffectual law instead of the right law."

He declined to be identified for this story, citing his lawyer’s advice.

Guns, frustration, and a lack of consensus muddy the future of downtown safety. Lawrence residents, downtown business owners, and city management offer different views on increasing safety downtown and controlling weapons near nightlife spots.

Police, city managers: limit guns

On Feb. 14, City Commissions revised ordinance 7976, an amendment to city code 14-408 which prohibits possession of dangerous knives and firearms near alcohol-serving establishments. The ordinance was unclear about how close a weapon could be to a bar before it violated the code.

Scott Miller, a Lawrence city attorney, told Commissioners police had been hesitant about seizing fewer than 10 guns they had spotted downtown because they weren’t sure the weapons were in “close proximity” to drinking venues. The revision to ordinance 7976 now prohibits possession of a gun within 200 feet of a bar.

Kansas state senators passed Senate bill 418 earlier this month, which allows the state to issue licenses for citizens to carry concealed weapons. Governor Kathleen Sebelius has vetoed previous concealed-carry bills, but the Senate passed this most recent version with enough votes to override a veto. The bill is currently pending before the Federal and State Affairs committee in the Kansas House.

Rep. Barbara Ballard (D-Lawrence) flatly opposes the bill.

“Kansas has some of the most lenient gun laws in the nation,” Ballard said. “My constituents overwhelmingly are not in favor of concealed-carry.”

City Commissioner David Schauner said he doesn’t want to play catch-up when it comes to guns downtown. He also opposes concealed-carry laws.

“I think it’s a negative, period,” Schauner said.

Schauner also worries about self defense bills that allow a person to “shoot first and ask questions later.” House bill 2577, also pending before the House Federal and State Affairs committee, states that, without attempting to flee first, a person can use deadly force against to prevent “great bodily harm” or to stop someone from breaking into a house.

Some Lawrence residents favor such concealed-carry and self defense laws. Lisa Day, who lives in eastern Lawrence, has spent most of her life in northeastern Kansas. She said law-abiding citizens want to protect themselves.

“If criminals are afraid that their intended victims might be armed, they will think twice about committing those crimes," Day said. "Jail and prison don't scare them anymore. But death will.”

City Manager Mike Wildgen has invited business owners to a March 6 public meeting to generate ideas for keeping downtown safe.

“We’d like to know what their security issues are, and how downtown can be kept safe,” Wildgen said.

Business owners: don’t concentrate on isolated incidents

Eileen Strong, the owner of Strong’s Antiques and Aimee’s Coffee Shop, hopes the meeting can create common goals for increasing downtown safety.

“What I’d like to see the planners of Lawrence do is to take a non-partisan approach to improving Lawrence,” Strong said. “I think in the past we’ve seen a lot of individual agendas being pushed through.”

Commissioner Schauner has questioned continuing to approve liquor licenses for downtown bars, but Strong sees little progress on such ideas and she hopes lawmakers don’t focus merely on isolated crimes like the Granada shooting.

“I heard five years ago the City Commission isn’t issuing any more liquor licenses,” Strong said. “We constantly say we’re not going to do something, and then we do it. We don’t need Band-Aid solutions.”

At the Feb. 14 meeting, City Commissioners briefly mentioned possibly mandating closing times for bars. Jerry Neverve, co-owner of Red Lyon Tavern, said such ideas are ignorant.

“I think everybody downtown would fight that,” Neverve said. “This is a college town. If we try to curtail activity, it’s going to have a significant economic impact.”

Neverve also characterized the Granada shooting as an isolated incident.

“You have one unfortunate incident downtown, and people tend to overreact,” Neverve said. “The vast majority of places down here take care of their customers.”