In section 9.0 Old
Business of the July 22, 2014 Board Minutes, it is states that the Board voted
unanimously to approve the motion: Rules and Regulations for Facility/Amenity
Use.
Within that document is
the following section: WEAPONS
"No weapons are
allowed in or on ECA property, except those carried by law enforcement
officials and Eastman Security. Specifically not allowed are, but not limited
to:
-Guns
-Machetes
-Knives
-Bows
and arrows"
For additional information see http://eastmanblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/all-eca-members-have-conflict-of_30.html
An alert EastmanBlog reader filed the following submission:
The folks who
approved that Eastman ban guns on its premises seem to be rather unaware of the
law, either locally or nationally.
New Hampshire
State Constitution guarantees in “Article 2a” a right to keep and bear arms to
defend the self, family, property and community. Furthermore, NH state law,
which allows both open carry without a license, and concealed carry with
licenses issued by town government, does not permit any local restrictions on
the right to keep and bear arms on any public rights of way or publicly
accessible property other than courtrooms. Section 159:26 Firearms, Ammunition, and Knives;
Authority of the State.
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TITLE XII
PUBLIC SAFETY AND WELFARE CHAPTER 159 PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS State
Jurisdiction Section 159:26 159:26 Firearms, Ammunition,
and Knives; Authority of the State. Source.
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"Except as
otherwise specifically provided by statute, no ordinance or regulation of a
political subdivision may regulate the sale, purchase, ownership, use,
possession, transportation, licensing, permitting, taxation, or other matter
pertaining to firearms, firearms components, ammunition, or firearms supplies
in the state."
Because the roads in
Eastman are rights of way, even if the land is owned by the ECA, it is not
legal for the ECA to limit the transportation, possession, or use while on the
roads, and certainly cannot regulate the use, possession, or ownership of
firearms on the private property of Eastman residents.
Furthermore, since the
ECA is incorporated, there are numerous precedents establishing the protection
of the civil rights of residents of company owned communities, particularly
Marsh v Alabama.
The 2nd amendment has
been established as a civil right under the 14th amendment by the McDonald v
Chicago ruling of recent years. Most specifically, Justice Alito, in
writing the majority opinion, says, "The
unavoidable conclusion is that the Civil Rights Act, like the Freedmen’s Bureau
Act, aimed to protect 'the constitutional right to bear arms' and not simply to
prohibit discrimination."
Furthermore, this establishment
of gun possession as a civil right also comes into play with the Masterpiece
Cake Shop ruling that recently occurred in Colorado, where the Colorado Civil
Rights Commission ruled that private businesses offering service to the public
as public accommodations cannot discriminate against customers’ civil rights,
in particular the right of certain classes of persons to receive service by the
business. Therefore, since this ruling extends the Civil Rights Era ban on
"whites only" restrictions by private businesses to a similar ban on
"straights only" restrictions, the McDonald v Chicago ruling would
also indicate that "unarmed only" restrictions would be similarly
banned in any public accommodation in the ECA, be it the Center, or Peppermint
Patties, the gym, or one of the beaches.
The only way that the ECA
could potentially enforce a legal ban on guns would be if the ECA erected gates
at all four Eastman entrances with security systems to prevent public entry,
and did not operate the restaurants at the Center or at South Cove, or the
Eastman Golf Links, as public accommodations, and only allowed the public to
use these facilities on a by appointment or reservation basis. Of course, this
would require that the ECA obtain town and state approval to remove the public
rights of way from all ECA roads, and there would obviously be a serious legal
conflict in public access to the boat ramp at South Cove, which is mandated by
law, given that Eastman Pond is, in fact, state property, not ECA property.
It should be clear that these sorts of drastic changes in how our community
operates would destroy the economic viability of the ECA, and cause massive
problems for residents. Furthermore, by land locking gun owning residents from
transporting firearms on ECA roads would be violating rights of transit and
would open the ECA to significant litigation.
Beyond all these issues
of state statutes and legal precedents, do the people of Eastman really want to
cater to the phobias of a few anti-gun holophotes and place themselves at risk?
It is a proven fact that states and communities with loose gun laws have far
lower crime rates than states and communities that do not. Virtually ALL of the
mass shootings of the last 20 years have occurred in so-called "gun free
zones" created either by statute, or by policy of whatever business entity
was operating on the premises of each event. If Eastman were to pass such
draconian restrictions on self-defense, it would become a magnet for home
invasion, robbery, and other sorts of crime.
Mike Lorrey
M2B LLC, dba BNT
Holdings
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