NORWICH – Calling into question both gun rights and the level of safety at the Chenango County Office Building, an unexpected motion to allow the public to carry concealed firearms in the county government building made its way to the floor Monday at a regular meeting of the County Board of Supervisors.

The motion was offered up by Plymouth Supervisor Jerry Kreiner who, in his last Board meeting as Town Supervisor, proposed an ammendment to a local law that currently prohibits people from carrying guns inside the County Office Building, where most governmental departments, including Behavioral Health Services, operate.

Ultimately, Kreiner’s motion was referred to the county’s Safety and Rules Committee for further discussion, but not without several county officials weighing in.

“During my years serving on the Personnel Committee and talking about concerns for a lot of our county employees, safety is one of the biggest concerns,” said Kreiner, calling for a public hearing to amend a local law adopted in 1993 that bans possession of weapons in local office buildings. “I think it’s important at this time that we recognize our second amendment rights.”

Safety in the County Office Building has been a topic of interest for several years, yet local officials have made few changes. Kreiner argued that safety became a bigger issue when the county court system relocated out of the building last year, and took the court officers with them.