Mike McKnight
A disabled tenant demands the right to protect himself but his landlord will no longer allow guns in an apartment complex. Fact Finders investigates this showdown over a new policy.
Louis Ballard is packing up so he can still pack heat.
For 10 years as a tenant in Highclere Apartments on the southeast side of Council Bluffs, Louis kept guns but he says Robert Hancock & Co. Management added a restriction to the lease that firearms are prohibited.
So Louis has chosen to move by the end of the month rather than renew and disarm.
”I’m not going to ever pull my gun on somebody that’s not there to hurt me or my family,” he said.
But neighbors in the same building say nobody in the complex should have a gun, “because if somebody got mad at somebody else they could shoot them and it could go through walls and we’d be dead,” said Konnie Wiegman.
The landlord’s attorney says the complex has been relatively crime-free.
There is a punch code or a key to get in but Louis says someone with criminal intent can follow a resident inside.
The 63-year-old retiree says his gun is a last line of defense.
”I’m not going to be without any weapon at my house,” he said.
Louis says he’s providing copies of all his gun and carry permits to another Council Bluffs apartment complex that allows firearms. He’s sticking to his guns and moving.
Deb Peterson, an attorney for Robert Hancock Company gave us this statement: “The management of this private property has a policy of not allowing firearms on the premises for the safety of the residents.”
Louis Ballard, who says he owns several guns, will move out by the end of the month.
Source: wowt
