Anti-gun bureaucrat attempted to pass motion to have firearms confiscated

Paul Joseph Watson
January 24, 2013

A fascinating scene played out at a small town council meeting last week when a Mayor stood up for the second amendment after a council member tried to pass a motion that would have forced an armed veteran with a concealed carry permit to have his gun confiscated by police.

The incident, which occurred in Oak Harbor, Washington, began when Lucas Yonkman, a disabled veteran who fought in Afghanistan, stood up to speak in defense of the second amendment in the context of an attempt by one of the council members to have guns banned from public places like city parks.

“I carry a weapon every day for the purpose of protecting people,” said Yonkman, adding that there should be more firearms safety training for children. “The American people should be very careful about messing with the second amendment and changing it….it’s very important that it’s there for not just personal protection but the protection of the American people,” he concluded.

After Yonkman sat down again, councilman Rick Almberg demanded to know if Yonkman was “armed right now,” to which Mayor Scott Dudley responded, “would it matter”? “It does to me,” responded Almberg.

Dudley then turned to the city attorney to find out if it was necessary to ask the question, to which Attorney Grant Weed responded that it was not in the procedure for council members to ask questions of citizens.

“This is the time for citizens to address the council, not the other way around,” said Weed.

Returning to the microphone, Yonkman said he was comfortable in answering the question and stated, “Yes I have a concealed carry permit and I am concealed carrying at this moment. I would hope people would feel comfortable with that due to the fact that I am a trained professional with a weapon and I served my country for over five years in Afghanistan, sustained wounds in protection of those rights, and if there was an issue I would protect any person – whether I knew them or not – with my own life.”

Councilman Almberg then immediately responded by making a motion to have citizens entering the council chamber “check their weapon with the police chief….or to leave the premises.”

Almberg’s motion was seconded and a vote was taken, with the motion being defeated 4-2.

“That motion does not pass,” said the Mayor, to which Almberg responded, “Thank you Mayor, if I may I’ll excuse myself at this time,” before leaving the room.

A short time later, Mayor Dudley again brought up the motion, asking Attorney Weed about the legality of the motion if it had passed.

Weed responded by stating that the motion would have been “invalid and unenforceable”.

Mayor Dudley then apologized to Yonkman, pointing out that the two council members who voted for the motion were the same two who had tried to ban Yonkman from wearing a hat in council chambers.

“They are now trying to take your right to bear arms away,” said Dudley, adding that he felt safer, not fearful or uncomfortable, because of Yonkman’s attendance.

“I think it definitely opens the eyes of the public in reference to how some elected officials are choosing to go up and beyond the scope of their elected position to take away your rights,” said the Mayor.

Dudley then cited the oath he took as a city council member to “support the Constitution of the United States.”

“We have to take that oath, this evening we had a couple of council members who were doing just the opposite,” said Dudley, before apologizing again to Yonkman.

“We need to remember the oath that we took….that we are not able to, no matter how much you want to, infringe on the rights of others, that’s not our job, we are not able to do that,” concluded Dudley.

Mayor Dudley’s actions in standing up for the second amendment in the face of Rick Almberg’s attempts to have it eviscerated are commendable and should set an example for oth