What’S A Parade Without Guns? Color Guards Deputized So They Can Carry Weapons

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department got a new crop of old deputies Monday - but just for Independence Day.

Kootenai County Commissioner Ron Rankin, a Marine who survived the bitter retreat 50 years ago by American forces in the Korean War battle of the Chosin Reservoir, learned Monday that a recent judge’s ruling will make it illegal for veteran color guards to carry their rifles.

“The irony of it is that the theme of the parade is `American Heroes,”’ Rankin said, referring to next week’s Fourth of July parade. “So you have American heroes guarding their colors with a broomstick? Give me a break.”

So Rankin called Sheriff Rocky Watson, who served two years in the Marines during the Vietnam War, for a solution.

“We have found a means to legally carry guns,” Rankin said. “There is no legal restriction on who the sheriff can deputize, except for felons - which he is not going to do.”

Watson agreed and deputized the color guard Monday night at a Kootenai County Veterans Council meeting.

“They feel strongly about it,” Watson said of the 15 local veterans groups. “I will work in every way I can so that they can continue their tradition.”

The prohibition against guns is contained in one of three laws the Coeur d’Alene City Council passed in May 1999 in an effort to tighten control of the Aryan Nations parade.

One of those laws banned weapons within 1,000 feet of a parade or public assembly for all but law enforcement officers and active military personnel.

However, veterans protested and some threatened to quit participating in Coeur d’Alene parades because the new law made it illegal for them to carry rifles for the color guards.

City leaders agreed to modify the law so that nationally recognized veterans groups could march armed.

But that all changed with a ruling earlier this month by U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge. In that case, Lodge dismissed a claim by Gary Edwards that his First Amendment rights were violated.

Edwards, a protester in the 1998 Aryan Nations parade, was arrested after he refused to give up the stick he was using to hold up a protest sign at the event.

In that decision, Lodge also wrote that the veterans exemption “does unconstitutionally favor veterans groups over all others and must be found invalid.”

Rankin did not learn of the ruling until he received a letter Monday morning from Ken Timmons, a captain with the Coeur d’Alene Police Department.

“Please be advised that a recent Federal Court ruling handed down by Judge Lodge prohibits the carrying of firearms in any parade, march, etc. held in the city by anyone except active military or law enforcement,” Timmons’ letter read.

Watson will meet today with Timmons, who is standing in for Police Chief Dave Scates while he is away, to make sure there are no problems.

If the city objects, Watson said he will simply de-deputize the veterans.

“I’m not going to stomp all over Chief Scates’ jurisdiction to do it,” Watson said. “It’s only going to be for one day - the day of the event.”

Rankin said he wants to ensure that veterans are allowed to be honored in the same way they have for years.

“It’s a crock,” Rankin said. “A veteran who carries a rifle in combat ought to be able to carry a rifle to guard the colors down Sherman Avenue.”