April 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 29

a long history in Anglo-American
jurisprudence, " including " a history
of general prohibitions on armaments
in public forums. " That
being said, " in interpreting our
own Constitution, " the appeals
court acknowledged " it is better
not to go too far back into antiquity. "
The appeals court, however,
found this particular case was one
in which the " evidence shows that
medieval law survived to become
our Founders' law " :
Here, the State has shown that
at least two states, Virginia and
North Carolina, passed statutes
at the Founding that replicated
the medieval English law prohibiting
firearms in fairs and markets,
i.e., the traditional, crowded
public forum.
Moreover, the appeals court noted:
" The tradition of regulating
firearms in quintessentially crowded
places was continued throughout
the history of our Nation in
Reconstruction. "
In addition to the " territories
of Oklahoma and Arizona, " the
appeals court further recognized
three states (Texas, Missouri and
Tennessee), which had " passed
laws prohibiting weapons in public
forums and crowded places,
such as assemblies for educational,
literary or scientific purposes,
or into a ball room, social party or
other social gathering. " Further,
the appeals court took particular
note of the fact that " the state
courts of all three states that had
such laws upheld this type of statute
as constitutional. "
As characterized by the appeals
court, these state courts had, therefore,
effectively held " the Nation
not only tolerated the regulation
of firearms in public forums and
The appeals court
noted historical
evidence of regulating
firearms in crowded
environments.
crowded spaces, but also found it
aberrational that a state would be
unable to regulate firearms to protect
the duties and proprieties of
social life in such spaces. "
Accordingly, in the opinion
of the appeals court: " This long,
unbroken line, beginning from
medieval England and extending
beyond Reconstruction, indicates
that
the
tradition of regulating
firearms in often-crowded public
forums is part of the immemorial
custom of this nation. "
Municipal Parks
Firearm Tradition
In addition to showing that there
existed a well-established and representative
state tradition of firearm
regulation in public spaces,
the State also had referenced eight
municipal examples in Chicago;
Detroit; New York City; Philadelphia;
Pittsburgh; Salt Lake City,
Utah; St. Paul, Minnesota; and St.
Louis, Missouri. The appeals court
agreed that the State had indeed
demonstrated a " municipal tradition
of regulating firearms in urban
public parks " in these eight cities:
The proliferation of these urban
public park regulations between
1861 and 1897 coincides
with the rise of public parks as
municipal institutions over the
latter half of the 19th century.
While only 16 parks were created
before 1800, following the success
of New York's Central Park, cities
across the United States began
building parks to meet recreational
needs of residents.
Moreover, during the second half
of the 19th century, the appeals
court noted " Frederick Law Olmsted
and his partners who planned
Central Park designed major parks
or park systems in thirty cities. " As
these " urban public parks took root
as a new type of public forum, " the
appeals court found " cities continued
the tradition of regulating firearms
in historical public forums,
PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G | APRIL 2 0 2 4 | Parks & Recreation
29
April 2024 – Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2024 – Parks & Recreation
