Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: gun ownership/possession in co-housing

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Sep 20, 2022, at 12:48 PM, Fern Selzer/US/CA/95003/NBC via Cohousing-L 
> <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,Some members in our community are requesting a policy banning guns on 
> our Cohousing community. 

This has not come up before the whole community. It was raised with the group 
revising the bylaws. It was not accepted because:

1. An outright ban discriminates against people who are required to wear/have a 
gun for professional reasons — police officers, undercover investigators, etc. 
They would be automatically excluded.

2. Units are private. Unless something is a clear danger to other units, what 
people do/have in their unit is the unit owner’s freedom and responsibility.

3. It is dangerous. People in certain jobs receive death threats — judges 
trying criminal cases, media stars, government officials. Even though this are 
temporary on and off threats, these people cannot wave flags that say I’m 
unprotected. They might also require bodyguards during these periods who would 
be armed.

4. It is unenforceable. It puts everyone in the position of enforcing something 
that can’t be enforced without regular search and seizure raids. Because it is 
unenforceable but proclaimed to be a value, it is a set up for rumors and 
suspicions.

Depending on the state you live in, you may be able to ban visible gun 
carrying, but it would probably be much better to have a statement of values 
that says something like:

— Many of our members find the presence of guns to be an alarming reminder of 
murders, etc. and prefer not to be subjected to seeing guns or being made aware 
of their presence in the community.

We had to have a similar statement in relation to dogs. No matter how sweet 
your dog is or how much you love them _____ saw her brothers ___ be torn off by 
one and does not feel comfortable in the presence of an unleashed dogs. Dogs 
must be on leashes in public areas.

— In states where gun use is common for hunting, you might have a statement on 
the secure storage of guns and even gun training for residents once a year or 
so. Respectful possession and education in areas where guns are common is wiser 
than pretending they don’t exist.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org