Amended Gun Ban Ordinance Passed By Fairfax City Council

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — On a 5-1 vote, the Fairfax City Council passed an ordinance Tuesday night prohibiting firearms on some public properties in the city. The vote came after a public hearing and the adoption of several amendments to the ordinance.

In introducing the measure Tuesday night, City Attorney Brian Lubkeman acknowledged that the City Council's actions were not meant to be a debate on the Second Amendment but a discussion about the legislation. The default in Virginia is that weapons may be carried openly.

The Virginia General Assembly passed legislation in 2020 enabling localities to enact ordinances to prohibit firearms in and on certain public properties. Since then, several nearby jurisdictions, including Fairfax County, the City of Falls Church, and the City of Alexandria, have all enacted ordinances prohibiting firearms in public buildings and spaces.

Following the public hearing, which lasted about an hour, Councilmember Janice Miller made the motion to enact the legislation as proposed.

Councilmemer Jon Stehle Jr. made a motion to delate the subsection of the amendment prohibiting firearms on "any public street, road, alley, or sidewalk or public right-of-way or any other place of whatever nature that is open to the public and is being used by or is adjacent to a city-permitted event or an event that would otherwise require a city permit."

He also put forward an amendment to another section to remove language that would've prohibited firearms on "public streets, roads, alleys, or sidewalks or public rights-of-way or any other place of whatever nature that is open to the public and is being used by or is adjacent to a permitted event or an event that would otherwise require a permit."

In addition, he proposed amending the legislation by deleting the following subsection regarding notice of restrictions: "At all entrances or other appropriate places of ingress and egress to any public street, road, alley, or sidewalk or public right-of-way or any other place of whatever nature that is open to the public and is being used by or is adjacent to a city-permitted event or an event that would otherwise require a city permit."

In explaining his motions, Stehle said he wanted to add clarity to where the public can walk safely in the city.

"I fully recognize that others may have differences of opinions, in particular around the larger events, but from my perspective, when I think about Old Town Square and making sure you know where the signs are, you know where on the sidewalk to walk consistently that addresses many of those particular concerns," he said.

Councilmember Joseph Harmon, who seconded Stehle's motion, agreed that particular section of the ordinance needed clarity.

Miller, who made the original motion, agreed that the sections affected by Stehle's motion were not well crafted as written.

"I can understand why council members are not pleased and not willing to support this section and wants it to be removed," she said.

However, Harmon expressed concern that by removing this particular section city-managed events like the Fourth of July parade, the Fall Festival, the car show, and the Chocolate Lover's Festival, will not be afforded the protections of the full ordinance.

Stehle's motion to amend the ordinance passed on a 5 to 1 vote.

The council also voted 5-1 to adopt an amendment introduced by Councilmember Sang Yi to reduce the penalty for violating the ordnance to a class 4 misdemeanor, which is punishable by a fine of up to $250. The penalty as originally proposed was a class 1 misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to 12 months in jail, a fine of up to $2,500 or both.

Miller made several motions to amend the ordinance to prohibit firearms and ammunition at large, county-permitted events, such as the Fourth of July Parade and Fall Festival. But all of these motions failed to garner enough votes.

The council did vote 6-0 to adopt an amendment introduced by Miller to add an exemption for educational programs and events, including historical reenactments, in which there were demonstrations of firearms, provided the firearms were not loaded or are used blanks. This amendment also exempted color guards, provided their weapons were unarmed or contained blanks.

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City Council To Host Hearing On Gun Ban In Public Spaces