Martinsville City Council’s busy night: Second Amendment ‘sanctuary’ and then a public hearing on reversion – Martinsville Bulletin

Posted: December 12, 2019 at 3:47 pm

Martinsville City Council has pushed up its start time for an unusually busy agenda for its last regularly scheduled meeting of the year.

Starting at 6 p.m. today the council has set aside 45 minutes at the beginning to consider the adoption of a resolution in support of Second Amendment rights. That will be followed by a closed meeting and then a public hearing on reversion and possibly a vote on whether the city will move to revert to a town in Henry County.

Mayor Kathy Lawson said a constituent asked her to have council consider the Second Amendment sanctuary issue. Council member Danny Turner has called the measure illegal. Council members Chad Martin, Jennifer Bowles and Jim Woods have not responded to requests for comment.

Gun rights groups throughout the state have been lobbying localities to approve a resolution that declares officials will not fund any measure designed to restrict the rights granted by the Second Amendment.

As of Dec. 9, 45 counties, cities, and towns in Virginia, including Henry, Patrick, and Pittsylvania counties, have passed ordinances symbolically firing shots at the newly elected Democratic majority in the General Assembly, daring them to pass stricter gun laws. Local officials would be breaking the law themselves if they refused to enforce new state laws.

A 15-minute break is scheduled at approximately 6:45 p.m. Council will meet for a closed session at 7 p.m. and then reconvene at 7:30 for a much-anticipated public hearing on the citys consideration of reverting to a town.

In October 2018, City Council approved authorizing the Troutman Sanders law firm and auditing firms Robinson Farmer Cox and S. John Davis & Associates to complete reversion studies based on the latest information.

City Council staged two closed work sessions on June 18 and Oct. 29 to review the studies. A representative from Troutman Sanders is scheduled to speak just before the hearing and release the results of the studies publicly for the first time.

Council is scheduled to hear comments from the public following the release of the studies and followed by a Council decision as to the next step(s), according to the agenda summary.

Council could entertain a motion at the conclusion of the hearing and, if seconded, vote to revert Martinsville from city to town status, triggering a process that would take at least a year, according to the most optimistic timetable.

The presentation of the reversion studies is scheduled to require approximately 15 minutes. and comments from public are expected to begin at about 7:45 p.m.

Also during their meetings, council members will:

Bill Wyatt is a reporter for the Martinsville Bulletin. He can be reached at 276-638-8801, Ext. 236. Follow him @billdwyatt

Bill Wyatt is a reporter for the Martinsville Bulletin. He can be reached at 276-638-8801, Ext. 236. Follow him @billdwyatt

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Martinsville City Council's busy night: Second Amendment 'sanctuary' and then a public hearing on reversion - Martinsville Bulletin

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