Saratoga Springs approves ordinance restricting carrying guns while intoxicated

After months of discussion, the Saratoga Springs city council has passed legislation that would make it a crime to carry a gun while intoxicated.

During Tuesday night’s city council meeting, the council returned to an ordinance aimed at making downtown Saratoga Springs a safer place late at night.

The ordinance, amended and re-introduced for discussion by Public Safety Commissioner James Montagnino, stems from the November shootout on Broadway with city police that injured two. One of the individuals charged in the case was an off-duty Rutland sheriff’s deputy who faces an attempted murder charge.

But again, on Tuesday night, some councilors voiced concerns with the ordinance that amends city code with language that includes, in part: “No person shall be intoxicated or impaired by alcohol or drugs, or by a combination of alcohol and drugs, in a public place while in possession of a firearm.”’

Commissioner of Public Works Jason Golub said the ordinance could lead to civil rights violations.

“I don't see how it's enforceable. I think it's a great idea as a piggyback onto another offense – if someone is arrested for assault, and you have reasonable suspicion that you can now search them for a firearm or give them a breathalyzer – but to just expect the police to identify people who are both drunk and carrying a firearm, independent of another violation, is a near impossible exercise unless you want to violate people's civil rights,” said Golub.

Golub did say he supports the intention of the legislation.

“If you had organized it as a piggyback onto another offense, I would vote for it. But it doesn't…how it is actually practically enforced procedurally by the police, it doesn't spell it out in a way that I'm comfortable,” added Golub.

Montagnino said the main goal is to raise consciousness among gun owners.

“At least, the word would get out that if you're licensed to carry, you don't want to come to Saratoga Springs to go partying with your licensed firearm. Put it in a safe, leave it home,” said Montagnino.

Citing the fact that at least one person involved in the November shootout was licensed to carry, Commissioner of Accounts Dillon Moran, a fellow Democrat who co-owns a downtown brewpub, joined Golub in questioning the efficacy of the ordinance.

“If the people who ought to know better aren't influenced by the law about not bringing a gun to a bar. I don't know how being drunk with a gun is a deterrent in any way, shape, or form. That's all. That's just my personal feeling. Again, I get the connotation, it is absolutely ridiculous that this isn't already illegal, quite frankly. But how do we effectively do that at this level? I don't know,” said Moran.

In an exchange with City Attorney Tony Izzo, Montagnino responded to Izzo’s concern that in order to enforce the ordinance, an officer would need to prove a suspect’s intoxication with a blood alcohol or similar test – as is done for suspected impaired drivers.

“But in any other circumstance, where an individual has stopped and frisked earlier, this law really is of no use because there's no requirement that in any of those circumstances a blood alcohol test be done as the state requires in vehicular stops,” said Izzo.

“Respectfully, Tony, the state doesn't require a test. There's the subdivision, the common law intoxication that's been on the books since before the invention of the Intoxilyzer. And when you have a refusal to submit to a chemical test, you can still have a successful prosecution for driving while intoxicated based upon the officer's observations,” responded Montagnino.

Izzo sought to draw a distinction between the circumstances of traffic stops and stops on the street.

Mayor Ron Kim, a Democrat and former city Public Safety Commissioner, supported Montagnino’s ordinance while recognizing the points made by the other officials in the room.

“I appreciate those concerns. But I do think that there's part of what we do here that is a statement to the larger community that this was intolerable,” said Kim.

The ordinance passed 3 to 2.