Armed Vets To Keep Right To Join Parade

Thu., May 20, 1999

From Staff Reports

Veterans will be able to bring their rifles to Lake City parades after all.

Tuesday night, the Coeur d’Alene City Council voted to have its attorneys prepare changes that allow nationally recognized veterans groups to march armed. The council will hold a special meeting Monday at 5 p.m. at City Hall to adopt those changes.

That meeting will make the new law effective in time for veterans groups to march in the Fred Murphy Days parade May 29.

“It’s a win-win situation without confrontation,” said Rick Seward, to the Kootenai County Veterans Council.

Earlier this month, the City Council passed three new parade-related laws. One prohibited everybody but police, active duty military, National Guard and ROTC cadets from having weapons within 1,000 feet of a parade.

The Kootenai County Veterans Council and other groups protested. Some threatened to quit participating in Coeur d’Alene parades if they couldn’t bring the traditional armed color guard.

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