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The Dotys appear to be terribly earnest conservative/libertarian young rural Americans. I don't see anything in their character, as described in this article, that indicates they are disciples of Jesus. It's high time we all understood the difference.<BR>
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keely<BR><BR>> From: thansen@moscow.com<BR>> To: vision2020@moscow.com<BR>> Date: Sun, 3 Jun 2007 08:05:53 -0700<BR>> Subject: [Vision2020] Armed With a Library Card and a Glock<BR>> <BR>> >From today's (June 3, 2007) Spokesman Review -<BR>> <BR>> -----------------------------------------------------------------<BR>> <BR>> Armed with library card, Glock <BR>> Post Falls copes with gun-toting brothers exercising their rights<BR>> <BR>> Hope Brumbach <BR>> Staff writer<BR>> June 3, 2007<BR>> <BR>> This story first appeared Thursday in the Post Falls/Rathdrum edition of<BR>> Your Voice. <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> POST FALLS - Zach Doty typically wears a tie and dress shirt to church. But<BR>> lately a new accessory of his is raising alarm. <BR>> <BR>> After turning 18 last month, the Post Falls teenager began strapping a<BR>> loaded 9 mm Glock 19 pistol to his belt every day. He totes it in full view<BR>> to Bible studies, the public library, city parks and neighborhood stores,<BR>> and on walks around town. <BR>> <BR>> His 15-year-old brother, Stephen, has joined him, carrying a loaded Ruger<BR>> .22-caliber rifle slung over his shoulder.<BR>> <BR>> The brothers, who are home-schooled, say they're flexing their Second<BR>> Amendment right, which allows citizens to bear arms. They say they're<BR>> protecting themselves and others, deterring crime and making a statement<BR>> about constitutional freedoms.<BR>> <BR>> "If you don't exercise a right, eventually it will go away," Zach Doty said<BR>> last week, a handgun tucked in a holster on his hip. "I'd like to raise<BR>> people's awareness that it's a right, and I hope to encourage others to<BR>> exercise that right." <BR>> <BR>> The brothers are stirring up concern about citizen safety and gun<BR>> responsibility.<BR>> <BR>> Residents have alerted police and complained to the city. Police have<BR>> stopped the boys on several occasions in the past six weeks. <BR>> <BR>> And city officials say the brothers' action may lead to restrictions on<BR>> carrying weapons on public property within city limits. At this time, the<BR>> city doesn't have an ordinance prohibiting firearms in most public<BR>> buildings.<BR>> <BR>> "It obviously has created some controversy in the community. . We are<BR>> fielding a significant number of calls from concerned citizens about how<BR>> we're going to react to this and how we're going to ensure their safety is<BR>> upheld," Post Falls City Administrator Eric Keck said. Idaho law generally<BR>> allows people 18 or older to carry a handgun in plain view, Post Falls<BR>> Police Chief Cliff Hayes said. Those age 13 to 17 can openly carry a rifle<BR>> with permission from a parent or guardian. Adults can apply for a permit to<BR>> carry a concealed weapon.<BR>> <BR>> Firing a gun is unlawful within city limits, and guns are prohibited on<BR>> school grounds. <BR>> <BR>> The teens are legally carrying the guns; Zach is 18 and Stephen carries a<BR>> note from his parents along with his Ruger, Hayes said. <BR>> <BR>> "I've been chief here for over 19 years, and we've never had anyone elect to<BR>> exercise their rights this way," Hayes said.<BR>> <BR>> The public and law enforcement will need to grow accustomed to the sight,<BR>> Hayes said.<BR>> <BR>> "I don't think it's necessary to overreact to two individuals who elect to<BR>> exercise their right to carry a firearm," he said.<BR>> <BR>> The Police Department has fielded calls from concerned residents, and Hayes<BR>> encouraged anyone with worries to notify police.<BR>> <BR>> Officers first stopped Zach Doty on April 17 in response to a 911 call, when<BR>> he was walking on Idaho Street to a Bible study at his church.<BR>> <BR>> Zach Doty doesn't carry picture identification - he doesn't have a driver's<BR>> license - so his mother brought a medical card to prove his age, according<BR>> to a Post Falls police incident report. <BR>> <BR>> Zach and Stephen Doty were stopped May 13 on Poleline Avenue in response to<BR>> a citizen complaint. <BR>> <BR>> And on May 17, a Kootenai County sheriff's deputy approached the brothers as<BR>> they hiked around Tubbs Hill in Coeur d'Alene. In the deputy's report, he<BR>> records that "several people were pointing at them."<BR>> <BR>> The brothers gave the deputy Zach's birth certificate, a note from their<BR>> parents and a copy of the Idaho Code regarding weapons carried by minors,<BR>> according to the report.<BR>> <BR>> In Post Falls, Hayes has distributed Zach Doty's photograph to officers, so<BR>> they're easily able to identify him, Hayes said. <BR>> <BR>> "You have to be really careful," Hayes said, "because they're exercising<BR>> their legal right."<BR>> <BR>> Meet Zach and Stephen Doty, and they'll give you a firm handshake and<BR>> politely open doors. They wear collared shirts buttoned snuggly at the top<BR>> and tucked into slim-legged pants.<BR>> <BR>> Both have handled guns from an early age, hunting rabbits and deer. Both<BR>> have taken a hunter's safety course in Washington, they said.<BR>> <BR>> Zach Doty, who has short-cropped hair and a fuzzy mustache and goatee, talks<BR>> earnestly about gun regulations and routinely sprinkles his arguments with<BR>> quotes, including, "An armed society is a polite society." <BR>> <BR>> "I understand there's going to be a certain number of people . uncomfortable<BR>> with my exercising the Second Amendment," he said. "That's why it's put down<BR>> as a right. There's no right in there to not be offended."<BR>> <BR>> He may start an open-carry group to bring more attention to the cause, Zach<BR>> Doty said.<BR>> <BR>> "The problem is if we go another 20 years, it won't be just offensive, it<BR>> will be illegal," Zach Doty said. "If I get enough people to do it with me,<BR>> it won't be so out of the ordinary."<BR>> <BR>> The brothers have the support of their father, Jude Doty, who has a history<BR>> of bucking the establishment. Jude and Angela Doty, who have seven children<BR>> ages 3 to 18, moved to Idaho two years ago during a legal battle with<BR>> Washington state concerning alleged violations of child labor laws. <BR>> <BR>> The family shares a philosophy: "Home birth, home school, home business."<BR>> <BR>> The Washington Department of Labor and Industries cited Jude Doty for<BR>> allowing Zach and Stephen, 13 and 11 at the time, to work on construction<BR>> sites. State fines eventually cost Doty, a house mover, his residence in<BR>> Yakima.<BR>> <BR>> Jude Doty, 50, supports his sons, although he regrets making others in the<BR>> community uncomfortable. <BR>> <BR>> "The boys haven't caused any trouble," he said. "People's thinking needs to<BR>> be changed."<BR>> <BR>> Stephen Doty, a quiet boy with a spattering of freckles across his nose,<BR>> said he and his brother have received some positive responses.<BR>> <BR>> "One guy gave me a thumbs-up and said, 'That's the way to do it,' " Stephen<BR>> Doty said. "It's legal, so I carry it. . I think people need to see people<BR>> with guns. It's not a bad thing."<BR>> <BR>> Others in the community worry about safety - of residents and the Doty boys.<BR>> Some say the teens are digging into a sensitive issue, in light of recent<BR>> shootings at Virginia Tech, where 32 people were killed by a student, and<BR>> more recently in Moscow, Idaho, where a gunman killed his wife, a police<BR>> officer and a church sexton before killing himself.<BR>> <BR>> Robert Hunt, of Post Falls, worries that teenagers don't have the experience<BR>> or mentality to safely deal with a confrontation.<BR>> <BR>> "To let a 15-year-old and 18-year-old walk around with guns, it's a<BR>> potential disaster," said Hunt, 61, a former state commander of American<BR>> Disabled Veterans. "They'll probably do more to damage gun rights by walking<BR>> around with a gun."<BR>> <BR>> He was upset about the pair carrying firearms last week at the Post Falls<BR>> Public Library, where children were present.<BR>> <BR>> Library staff received complaints from patrons, said assistant director<BR>> Rebecca Melton. .<BR>> <BR>> The library doesn't have a policy governing firearms, but the library board<BR>> plans to address it in June, Melton said.<BR>> <BR>> Mayor Clay Larkin said last week he doesn't know if the city will address<BR>> the issue.<BR>> <BR>> "I'm confident that our public is safe at this point in time," Larkin said.<BR>> "And we will do everything we can to protect them and will give them a safe<BR>> environment to live in and we will watch this as closely as the law lets<BR>> us."<BR>> <BR>> -----------------------------------------------------------------<BR>> <BR>> Seeya round town, Moscow.<BR>> <BR>> Tom Hansen<BR>> Moscow, Idaho<BR>> <BR>> "If not us, who?<BR>> If not now, when?"<BR>> <BR>> - Unknown<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> =======================================================<BR>> List services made available by First Step Internet, <BR>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <BR>> http://www.fsr.net <BR>> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>> =======================================================<BR><BR><br /><hr />Play free games, earn tickets, get cool prizes! 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