Royal Oak Drops Gun Ban

Royal Oak, Mich., officials reportedly decided to comply with the state’s open-carry law and drop the city’s ban on holstered guns at the Arts, Beats & Eats Festival Sept. 3-6.

The City Commission voted Aug. 16 to do away with the clause in the festival contract that said guns would not be allowed at the event, according to the Detroit News.

“The law is the law,” Mayor Jim Ellison said. “I don’t agree with it, but we have the right to change that law so those gray issues are gone.”

Gun advocates had been fighting the ban, claiming it infringed on their Second Amendment rights as well as state law.

“The fact that the city recognized the law and supported the hundreds of thousands of people who carry firearms every day is a huge victory,” Scott Webb, regional coordinator for Michigan Open Carry, told the News.

Festival organizer Jon Witz told the paper he supports the commission’s decision and doesn’t anticipate any problems because of it.