Commission changes weapons policy at Coonskin Park

Coonskin Park

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gun owners with a conceal carry permit won’t be charged with a misdemeanor for bringing weapons to Coonskin Park.

The Kanawha County Parks and Recreation Commission voted unanimously Thursday to change the park’s rules on firearms. Previously, anyone caught with a gun at Coonskin Park faced a misdemeanor charge.

The change essentially allows for conceal carry permit holders to be armed as long as nobody knows they have a gun.

“(Now) if a legal conceal carry permit holder is caught with a gun in the park, instead of being charged with a misdemeanor, they’ll be asked to take their gun and leave,” said Parks and Recreation director Jeff Hutchinson.

The commission said the move makes county policy more in line with state law.

Hutchinson said the misdemeanor still applies to anyone lacking a conceal carry permit or anyone openly carrying a firearm. The matter became an issue when a residents asked that signs saying guns were forbidden in the park could be removed.

“It’s something we’ve had our attorneys look at over the last three or four months,” he said. “We waited until after what went on with the Senate bill about anybody over 21 being allowed to carry concealed without a permit. When the governor vetoed that, we put it back on the agenda.”

In other business, the commission agreed to allow one trail at Coonskin Park to become an emergency access points. Following the landslide at the end of the Yeager Airport runway, the closing of Keystone Drive left residents with only one way in or out and no escape route in the event of an emergency.

“It was a dirt and mud trail. We didn’t maintain it,” said Hutchinson. “(Local officials) went in widened the road in a place or two and totally graveled it from the paved end of Barlow Drive clear into Coonskin Park.”

The road will only be open to vehicles such as ambulance and fire trucks or for residents to evacuate during floods.

The upside for the park is a mile of improved trail.

“I’ve seen more people using the trail for biking and stuff than I ever have before,” said Hutchinson. “We think it’s a significant improvement to the recreation here at Coonskin Park.”





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