No. 5 Story of the Year: Are You in Favor of a Gun Safety Program Inside City Limits?
Inver Grove Heights city leaders debated the issue throughout the summer. Patch polled readers on June 18.
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As the end of the year approaches, Patch recaps the biggest stories of 2012—both in terms of pageviews and impact on the Inver Grove Heights community.
The Patch poll originally posted June 18, 2012.
Here are additional articles on the topic that posted on Patch. Click on the headlines to read the stories.
• (Aug. 28) IGH City Councilman Flip-Flops, DNR Gun Safety Program Gets Green Light
• (Aug. 24) POLL: City Council to Reconsider Gun Safety Program
• (Aug. 14) City Council Shoots Down DNR Gun Safety Program
• (July 24) Stage Set for City Council Vote on Firearms Program
• (July 12) City OKs Second Reading of Gun Safety Program, Residents React
• (July 9) City Council Preview (July 9): Gun Safety Program Gets Second Reading
• (June 6) Planning Commission Narrowly Approves Gun Safety Program
Other Story of the Year posts:
• No. 6 Story of the Year: Former Simley Student Teacher Accused of Sending Naked Pic to Student
• No. 7 Story of the Year: ISD 199 Technology Levy Defeated
• No. 8 Story of the Year: Simley Student Writes One Act Play
• No. 9 Story of the Year: Funeral Arrangements Set For U.S. Marine, Simley Alum Cola Jensen
• No. 10 Story of the Year: Olsons' is the Greatest Love Story in Inver Grove Heights
ORIGINAL POST: The Inver Grove Heights Planning Commission spent three hours on June 5 trying to decide whether or not to recommend a DNR-sponsored firearms safety program in Darvan Acres, a huge plot of land owned by Vance Grannis, Jr.
After much discussion, the Planning Commission recommended the program be allowed.
The City Council spent a similar amount of time debating the same issue during Monday night's council meeting. The Council ultimately voted in favor of an interim use permit for the site, which, in theory, grants permission for the class to happen for an as-yet undetermined number of years.
Monday night's vote was the first in a series of readings of the issue, so nothing has been decided yet. Issues still being debated include noise control, number of classes, notification logistics and the number of participants per class.
Among the top issues to be considered remains changing a city ordinance to allow residents to discharge firearms within city limits. This is an issue that brings up a host of potential problems.
But, based on the intense scrutiny the issue has received, perhaps it's time for IGH residents to voice their concerns.
