Concealed carry in county buildings may only be two days away. The Rowan County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday will have a public hearing about a measure that would allow guns in its buildings.
The meeting starts at 3 p.m. on the second floor of the county administration building, 130 W. Innes St.
Chairman Jim Sides said he expects to vote on the measure shortly following the hearing.
“I think the consensus is that it’ll pass,” Sides said. “I don’t have a problem with it; I’m a second amendment guy. We already have open carry ­— you can strap on a gun and walk right down the streets.”
Planning Department director Ed Muire said the concealed carry ordinance being proposed would largely bring county laws in line with recently passed state laws that allow concealed carry of firearms in public parks. The state law, passed in late 2013, allowed counties to choose whether to allow concealed carry in county-owned buildings.
Muire said only three other counties — Cabarrus, Alamance and Cherokee — allow concealed carry of firearms in county buildings.
Initially, Sides said, concerns centered around how concealed carry might affect county liability insurance rates. After a little research, he said, the county’s insurance wouldn’t be affected financially if the measure passed.
Commissioner Mike Caskey said his main focus is allowing Rowan County residents to use their rights.
“All we are doing is giving people an opportunity to protect themselves and their loved ones,” Caskey said. “We are ultimately responsible for our own safety. There are guns on property now that are being carried by people that don’t really care about the law.”
Caskey and Sides said they plan to vote for the measure following the public hearing, unless speakers during the public hearing present compelling evidence to vote no.
Tuesday will be the board’s bimonthly meeting. It was rescheduled to Tuesday because of the Labor Day Holiday.
Other items on the agenda include
• Five items on the consent agenda — declaring Sept. 11, 2014 as Patriot Day; proclaiming September 2014 National Preparedness Month; declaring $84,078.71 in uncollected taxes from 2003 as insolvent; awarding a service firearm to Lt. Thomas Lane, with the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office; adopting a holiday schedule of 12 days for county employees; and declaring a gas chamber formerly used at the Rowan County Animal Shelter as surplus equipment.
• A conditional use permit to build a 2,500-square-foot airplane hangar at 5940 Old Beatty Ford Road.
• A proposal to name a portion of Faith Road for former state rep. W. Eugene McCombs.
• A request for warehouse space by Sheriff Kevin Auten at a county-owned facility on Airport Road.
Auten’s requests states the Sheriff’s Office currently stores its equipment at multiple facilities in Rowan County. The Airport Road facility is large enough to hold all of Auten’s various equipment, according to his request.
• Consideration of McGill Associates, based in Asheville, for extending water and sewer lines along the northern and southern ends of the Interstate 85 corridor.