[Vision2020] Armed With a Library Card and a Glock

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (June 3, 2007) Spokesman Review -

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Armed with library card, Glock 
Post Falls copes with gun-toting brothers exercising their rights

Hope Brumbach 
Staff writer
June 3, 2007

This story first appeared Thursday in the Post Falls/Rathdrum edition of
Your Voice. 


POST FALLS - Zach Doty typically wears a tie and dress shirt to church. But
lately a new accessory of his is raising alarm. 

After turning 18 last month, the Post Falls teenager began strapping a
loaded 9 mm Glock 19 pistol to his belt every day. He totes it in full view
to Bible studies, the public library, city parks and neighborhood stores,
and on walks around town. 

His 15-year-old brother, Stephen, has joined him, carrying a loaded Ruger
.22-caliber rifle slung over his shoulder.

The brothers, who are home-schooled, say they're flexing their Second
Amendment right, which allows citizens to bear arms. They say they're
protecting themselves and others, deterring crime and making a statement
about constitutional freedoms.

"If you don't exercise a right, eventually it will go away," Zach Doty said
last week, a handgun tucked in a holster on his hip. "I'd like to raise
people's awareness that it's a right, and I hope to encourage others to
exercise that right." 

The brothers are stirring up concern about citizen safety and gun
responsibility.
 
Residents have alerted police and complained to the city. Police have
stopped the boys on several occasions in the past six weeks. 

And city officials say the brothers' action may lead to restrictions on
carrying weapons on public property within city limits. At this time, the
city doesn't have an ordinance prohibiting firearms in most public
buildings.

"It obviously has created some controversy in the community. . We are
fielding a significant number of calls from concerned citizens about how
we're going to react to this and how we're going to ensure their safety is
upheld," Post Falls City Administrator Eric Keck said. Idaho law generally
allows people 18 or older to carry a handgun in plain view, Post Falls
Police Chief Cliff Hayes said. Those age 13 to 17 can openly carry a rifle
with permission from a parent or guardian. Adults can apply for a permit to
carry a concealed weapon.

Firing a gun is unlawful within city limits, and guns are prohibited on
school grounds. 

The teens are legally carrying the guns; Zach is 18 and Stephen carries a
note from his parents along with his Ruger, Hayes said. 

"I've been chief here for over 19 years, and we've never had anyone elect to
exercise their rights this way," Hayes said.

The public and law enforcement will need to grow accustomed to the sight,
Hayes said.

"I don't think it's necessary to overreact to two individuals who elect to
exercise their right to carry a firearm," he said.

The Police Department has fielded calls from concerned residents, and Hayes
encouraged anyone with worries to notify police.

Officers first stopped Zach Doty on April 17 in response to a 911 call, when
he was walking on Idaho Street to a Bible study at his church.

Zach Doty doesn't carry picture identification - he doesn't have a driver's
license - so his mother brought a medical card to prove his age, according
to a Post Falls police incident report. 

Zach and Stephen Doty were stopped May 13 on Poleline Avenue in response to
a citizen complaint. 

And on May 17, a Kootenai County sheriff's deputy approached the brothers as
they hiked around Tubbs Hill in Coeur d'Alene. In the deputy's report, he
records that "several people were pointing at them."

The brothers gave the deputy Zach's birth certificate, a note from their
parents and a copy of the Idaho Code regarding weapons carried by minors,
according to the report.

In Post Falls, Hayes has distributed Zach Doty's photograph to officers, so
they're easily able to identify him, Hayes said. 

"You have to be really careful," Hayes said, "because they're exercising
their legal right."

Meet Zach and Stephen Doty, and they'll give you a firm handshake and
politely open doors. They wear collared shirts buttoned snuggly at the top
and tucked into slim-legged pants.

Both have handled guns from an early age, hunting rabbits and deer. Both
have taken a hunter's safety course in Washington, they said.

Zach Doty, who has short-cropped hair and a fuzzy mustache and goatee, talks
earnestly about gun regulations and routinely sprinkles his arguments with
quotes, including, "An armed society is a polite society." 

"I understand there's going to be a certain number of people . uncomfortable
with my exercising the Second Amendment," he said. "That's why it's put down
as a right. There's no right in there to not be offended."

He may start an open-carry group to bring more attention to the cause, Zach
Doty said.

"The problem is if we go another 20 years, it won't be just offensive, it
will be illegal," Zach Doty said. "If I get enough people to do it with me,
it won't be so out of the ordinary."

The brothers have the support of their father, Jude Doty, who has a history
of bucking the establishment. Jude and Angela Doty, who have seven children
ages 3 to 18, moved to Idaho two years ago during a legal battle with
Washington state concerning alleged violations of child labor laws. 

The family shares a philosophy: "Home birth, home school, home business."

The Washington Department of Labor and Industries cited Jude Doty for
allowing Zach and Stephen, 13 and 11 at the time, to work on construction
sites. State fines eventually cost Doty, a house mover, his residence in
Yakima.

Jude Doty, 50, supports his sons, although he regrets making others in the
community uncomfortable. 

"The boys haven't caused any trouble," he said. "People's thinking needs to
be changed."

Stephen Doty, a quiet boy with a spattering of freckles across his nose,
said he and his brother have received some positive responses.

"One guy gave me a thumbs-up and said, 'That's the way to do it,' " Stephen
Doty said. "It's legal, so I carry it. . I think people need to see people
with guns. It's not a bad thing."

Others in the community worry about safety - of residents and the Doty boys.
Some say the teens are digging into a sensitive issue, in light of recent
shootings at Virginia Tech, where 32 people were killed by a student, and
more recently in Moscow, Idaho, where a gunman killed his wife, a police
officer and a church sexton before killing himself.

Robert Hunt, of Post Falls, worries that teenagers don't have the experience
or mentality to safely deal with a confrontation.

"To let a 15-year-old and 18-year-old walk around with guns, it's a
potential disaster," said Hunt, 61, a former state commander of American
Disabled Veterans. "They'll probably do more to damage gun rights by walking
around with a gun."

He was upset about the pair carrying firearms last week at the Post Falls
Public Library, where children were present.

Library staff received complaints from patrons, said assistant director
Rebecca Melton. .

The library doesn't have a policy governing firearms, but the library board
plans to address it in June, Melton said.

Mayor Clay Larkin said last week he doesn't know if the city will address
the issue.

"I'm confident that our public is safe at this point in time," Larkin said.
"And we will do everything we can to protect them and will give them a safe
environment to live in and we will watch this as closely as the law lets
us."

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"If not us, who?
If not now, when?"

- Unknown