In the wake of a shooting at a council meeting in Minnesota, Easton Controller Tony Bassil said Wednesday night he wants police protection at city council meetings, a move Mayor Sal Panto Jr. said he is thinking about, even though he doesn't believe that would stop someone from bringing a gun to a meeting and opening fire.
"It's something we've been looking at," Panto told Bassil.
"We don't have any security at all," Bassil said. "No officer, no x-ray machine."
Bassil said city officials have promised security will be greatly increased at the new city hall building under construction.
But the mayor then pointed out that the two people who were shot at Monday night's council meeting in Minnesota were two new police officers who were waiting to be sworn in.
"It's not going to stop it, having a police officer here," Panto said. He said the first person a gunman will target is a police officer.
Unlike state and federal buildings, which have metal detectors at the front door, municipal buildings like the Alpha Building which houses Easton's City Hall, are not permitted to post signs warning no weapons are permitted.
Panto said the problem lies in the state legislature, which has not moved on requests over at least the last several years to have the law changed.
In Monroe County in 2013, a man who had feuded for years with township officials over a land dispute that he lost walked into a municipal meeting, opened fire and killed three people.
The alleged shooter, Rockne Newell, is awaiting trial on first-degree murder charges. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
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