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1 <br /> APPROVED 10/20/2020 <br /> MINUTES <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> VIRTUAL WORK SESSION <br /> SEPTEMBER 10, 2020 <br /> 7:00 p.m. <br /> The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Virtual Work Session on Thursday, <br /> September 10, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. <br /> COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Penny Rich, Vice Chair Renee Price, and <br /> Commissioners Jamezetta Bedford, Mark Dorosin, Sally Greene, Mark Marcoplos, and Earl <br /> McKee <br /> COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: NONE <br /> COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: John Roberts <br /> COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Bonnie Hammersley, Deputy County Manager <br /> Travis Myren, Deputy Clerk to the Board David Hunt, and Assistant Deputy Clerk II Allen <br /> Coleman (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below.) <br /> Chair Rich called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. <br /> Due to current public health concerns, the Board of Commissioners is conducting a Virtual Work <br /> Session on Thursday, September 10, 2020. Members of the Board of Commissioners <br /> participated in the meeting remotely. As in prior meetings, members of the public were able to <br /> view and listen to the meeting via live streaming video at <br /> http://www.orangecountVnc.gov/967/Meeting-Videos and on Orange County Gov-TV on <br /> channels 1301 or 97.6 (Spectrum Cable). <br /> 1. Additional Discussion on Potential Regulation of the Discharge of Firearms in <br /> Areas of the County with High Residential Unit Density <br /> PURPOSE: To discuss options related to the regulation of firearms discharge in limited <br /> urbanized areas of the County. <br /> BACKGROUND: <br /> This topic was briefly discussed by the 2016 Firearms Safety Committee at its meetings, but did <br /> not result in any substantive recommendations to the Board of Commissioners in that <br /> Committee's final recommendation. The proposed recommendations from the Committee <br /> included a recommendation that the Code of Ordinances be amended to prohibit the discharge <br /> of firearms while an individual is impaired, required discharged projectiles remain on the <br /> property on which they are discharged, and individuals discharging firearms maintain adequate <br /> backstops. These recommendations were adopted as shown in Attachment E. <br /> The Board of Commissioners revisited this issue in September 2019 and directed the County <br /> Attorney to bring back additional information at a 2020 work session including a map showing <br /> more roads, a map showing subdivisions, the current Orange County ordinance, maps of the <br /> extra-territorial jurisdiction (ETJ) areas including subdivisions, and Geographic Information <br /> System enlarged maps of larger subdivisions. North Carolina General Statute 153A-129 <br /> specifically authorizes counties to regulate the discharge of firearms (Attachment B). Other <br /> statutes limit the extent to which counties may regulate firearms in general and the discharge of <br /> firearms, particularly with respect to the discharge of firearms on "sport shooting ranges." <br />