Detriot Council Members Carry Guns For Safety

Detroit City Councilman Kwame Kenyatta said that he has had death threats in the past when in public, Kenyatta carries a concealed weapon. Councilman-Elect Gary Brown a former Police Chief and officer who was involved in narcotics investigations, said he arms himself when he feels the need to ensure his safety. Several incoming council members including President-Elect Charles Pugh, said that they have concealed weapons permits and carry guns for safety in a city know for there rough neighborhoods. But none said that they planned to bring there guns to city hall, where armed police officers are assigned to council meetings. A 2002 city ordnance bars concealed weapons from public building except in the hands of police officers. This is a "Gun- Toting State, " Said Kenyatta who has had a concealed weapons permit for years and carries the gun around most days in public. I am a opinionated individual and and there are those who don't like what I have to say or do oftentimes, so I have had some threats here and there over the years. The issue, these future and current Council Members, said is making sure you feel safe traveling at night. Being a police officer for more than 35 years. Brown,"said that carrying a gun is no big deal" but he warned that people should be proficient with these weapons before they just start carrying them. Brown said, he was shot in a 1980's narcotics investigation and the culprit was never apprehended. As a former police chief, he said, carrying a gun is automatic. But Reggie Reg Davis a former raido deejay elected last week to the City Charter Commission was critical of public officials carrying weapons, calling it a disgrace and that it sends the wrong message. He said, he will fight to keep council members from bringing weapons to City Hall. You need to be like Gandhi, be the change that you wish to see, "said Davis whose younger brother was gunned down in Detroit. The people elected you to show them a different way to and you are walking around carrying guns. That is the most ignorant way to do things. If I am a City Council person. I don't want guns. Sharon McPhail, a former Councilwoman who wrote the ordinance banning guns in city buildings, said her idea originally came from protecting people in public schools and recreation centers and violence. McPhail said that she could not be critical of anyone, including future and current council members, wanting to carry a gun, as long as they don't carry it in places around children. I can't make a determination on whether there safety is threatened or not," McPhail said "I never felt that I needed to carry a gun, but that is my personal choice. The Rev. Andre Spivey newly elected to the council, said he picked up a concealed weapons permit application Monday and has plans on getting a gun for his protection. "I don't expect to tote it everywhere I go, flash it or brandish it in a city-county building,"said the pastor of St. Paul AME Church, "I would rather have it and not need it. I want to tell all African-Americans in dangerous cities like Detroit, Chicago and Baltimore don't be ashamed to have a concealed weapon to protect yourself it is your constitutional right to have a gun. written by Leonard N. Fleming and Darren Nichols.