Guntersville backs down from possible emergency gun ban

GUNTERSVILLE, AL (WAFF) - City leaders in Guntersville backed down Wednesday from a gun controversy.

The original proposal dealt with emergency powers during a disaster, but a small provision involving policing, city officials said, was blown heavily out of proportion.

City officials saw an internet explosion before their eyes so they quickly took measures to extinguish it.

"This entire council is a strong proponent of the Second Amendment. We all own guns," one person said.

The meeting lasted less than five minutes.

That's all the time it took for the council to unanimously vote to withdraw consideration of an emergency powers ordinance.

The ordinance would have given the mayor authority to immediately begin dealing with a disaster without council approval.

The council would have then had to be convened to approve any further expenditures. But a small provision in the ordinance deals with law enforcement's ability to disarm a citizen who an officer feels is threatening the officer or someone else.

That caused an Internet uproar with postings city officials said were exaggerated in talk of general disarmament of citizens.

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