Kentucky man arrested for carrying gun inside city council chambers. Now, he’s suing.
A frequent attendee of council meetings in Lewis County is suing after local officials told him he could not carry his gun into city hall — and then arrested him for doing so.
John Grabill, of Vanceburg, claims in the lawsuit that the arrest violated his 2nd and 14th Amendment rights and broke a Kentucky law that prohibits cities from barring guns in public places.
The city of Vanceburg, Mayor Dane Blankenship, Chief of Police Joseph Gilbert and Assistant Chief of Police Joseph Billman were named in the lawsuit.
Blankenship and Gilbert were not immediately available for comment Monday morning.
According to the lawsuit, Grabill regularly attends council meetings and carries a gun for self-defense. But in June, Grabill said he noticed new signs both inside and outside of the city council room that read: “Firearms are prohibited.”
Grabill met with the county attorney and county sheriff in July to determine if the firearms signs were legal. The county attorney informed Grabill of a five-page letter from the Attorney General’s Office explaining that local governments in Kentucky cannot prohibit guns in their buildings, according to a portion of a letter included in the lawsuit.
Guns are barred in some public places, including universities, schools and courthouses, but those rules come from the state rather than local governments.
Grabill then attended a council meeting in August while carrying his gun. Gilbert approached Grabill and told him he could not carry his gun inside the council chambers and pointed to the sign, according to the suit.
Grabill replied, “The sign is not worth the paper it is written on.”
Gilbert showed Grabill a paper that stated that carrying firearms in courtrooms, schools and establishments that serve alcohol is prohibited. Grabill argued that none of those included council rooms.
Gilbert also contended that guns were barred in privately owned places, but Grabill countered that council chambers were not privately owned.
Still, Blankenship instructed Gilbert and Billman to arrest Grabill if he insisted on attending the meeting while carrying the gun, according to the lawsuit.
Gilbert declined to look at the letter from the attorney general’s office and placed Grabill under for third-degree criminal trespassing, the lawsuit states.
Grabill was released the next day, Aug. 6, and in November, the charges against him were dismissed, according to court documents.
However, signs prohibiting firearms remain displayed and enforced by the city.
Grabill is seeking that the firearms signs be removed, compensatory and punitive damages.
This story was originally published December 23, 2024 at 12:22 PM.
