Council Meeting May 13th

Tonight’s meeting was a complete reversal of the one on April 22.  Last meeting was disrespectful, loud and obnoxious.  This meeting was subdued and polite in comparison..  First off I want to thank all the citizens that showed up to support the views of the majority of the residents in our city.  Your attendance in support was appreciated.  I removed the issue of the street’s ordinance from the consent agenda, so that Council could comment and also to force another vote on the issue.

My comments had to do with the reason why litigation is running rampant in the U.S.  It would seem that common sense is not common, and everything has to be on paper so the validity of a view can be challenged in a court of law.  Everything has to go to court these days, so that a judge can tell us what the prevailing sentiment is on a certain subject.  On April 22, Council had to legislate that if a hand gun is illegal to bring into a government meeting by law, then common sense would state that an AR-15 with three times the fire power would also be illegal.  Again, common sense is no longer common, ergo litigation.

This week we answered the question; is it safe for citizens to go into the street and have a conversation with a motorist, in traffic, and pass out literature with or without a gun.  The vote was 8-1 and now this is illegal in the City of Arlington.  The group “Open Carry Texas” thinks that this is a violation of the First Amendment.  The Council decided it was a safety issue.  There was only one outburst the entire evening.  That was by their leader, Mr. Watkins, yelling that the United States is not a democracy it is a Republic.  I believe that Mr. Watkins is inaccurate.  I think that there are only two Republics left in the United States.  That would be Oregon and Texas.  The group also read from the book of Luke, stating that Jesus Christ would be arrested in Arlington, and also hid behind charities not being able to collect funds in the streets.  They also stated that Firemen are in the streets collecting for Muscular Dystrophy.  I explained to them last week that city employees have a waiver signed my Governor Perry giving them an exemption.  The city cannot override state mandates.  I would also mention the eloquence of Councilman Jimmy Bennett for his comments concerning the mechanics of the Constitution.

But common sense prevailed at the end of the day.  The ordinance was amended and OCT threatened to sue and violate the legislation on the 24^th when the modification goes into affect.  I cautioned them to obey the laws of Arlington or face the consequences of their decision.