A Maine Township trustee says arming town hall employees with concealed handguns is a security option he’s not ready to dismiss — even though current state laws prohibit it.
“It’s something that should be kept on the table,” Trustee David Carrabotta said of allowing interested employees to carry weapons. “I’m not going to take it off the table with a knee-jerk reaction.”
Maine Township officials are currently exploring ways to increase security at Town Hall, which is located in Park Ridge. Options that were presented to the board in March included hiring armed security guards, and purchasing metal detectors, an X-ray machine for bags and parcels, a visitor management system, which would track visitors and print ID badges, and a buzzer system for the front desk and entrance.
The board had been scheduled to further discuss security enhancements at its May 22 meeting, but Carrabotta presented a motion to table the matter. He said he expects it will come back for discussion during the board’s June 26 meeting.
Carrabotta said he would like to see at least one armed security guard and metal detectors at the entrances to the building. Simply the presence of armed guards, he said, can be a deterrent to violent behavior.
But Carrabotta, a Republican elected to the town board in 2017, added that the township should not dismiss the idea of concealed weapons for employees. He said the idea was presented to the town board in February when Blair Garber, Evanston Township Republican committeeman, offered to provide free training lessons to employees.
“It’s not something I’m opposed to,” Carrabotta said.
Currently, the state’s concealed carry law prohibits citizens from carrying guns inside government buildings and schools, said Park Ridge Deputy Police Chief Duane Mellema.
“A government building is a prohibited place to have concealed carry,” he said. “In order to allow people to have weapons, you either have to be a police officer or some kind of security officer who is tasked with security of the building.”
Allowing employees who are not police or security to carry weapons inside a government building or school currently is “a complete contrast to what the law allows,” Mellema said.
During a March 27 town board meeting where security was discussed, Township Supervisor Laura Morask called the employee concealed carry proposal “absolutely not an option” and said there were not enough employees who “want to be armed.”
“It cannot happen; it will never happen with Cook County and state law,” she said.
Carrabotta suggested he would consider contacting state legislators about a possible change in the law.
“To me, this isn’t a pro-gun or anti-gun issue,” he told the Park Ridge Herald-Advocate. “This is a pro-life issue. These people of the township should be able to go work in a safe environment.”
