The mayor of the tiny town of Butte City, Idaho (population 78 according to the 2020 census) is facing misdemeanor charges after he allegedly used his gun as a gavel during a contentious meeting of the city council.
Deputies with the Butte County Sheriff’s Department were called out to last week’s city council meeting on reports that Mayor Kevin Turner was threatening multiple people with a gun. When the deputies arrived, they spoke to several witnesses who repeated those claims, though Turner denied that he had been brandishing a gun or waving it around.
Turner was then checked for weapons and asked if he had pulled a gun out. Turner allegedly replied that he had “got it out and used his firearm as a gavel to bang on the table.”
According to police reports, deputies say it was later clarified that Turner never took the gun out of the holster, and that he “held the barrel while banging the mag wall against the table.”
Turner told deputies he did this while firing City Councilman Steven Avery. Deputies then secured Turner’s gun, a loaded Hi-Point 45 ACP model JHP. Nine people who attended the meeting, some of whom may be City Council members, provided deputies with written statements.
Local news reports don’t mention why Avery was being fired, or what exactly led to Turner allegedly grabbing his holstered gun and pounding it on the table. While the mayor might have been trying to restore order, using a handgun as a gavel seems like it would only escalate tensions.
I’m trying to be as neutral as possible here, given that we only have one media account based on police reports, but those documents don’t paint a pretty picture of Turner’s actions.
According to court documents, in the audio, Turner can be heard “angrily yelling at Councilman Steven Avery and (a man and woman) alongside loud banging.”
“It appears that once they criticize Mayor Turner, that he becomes enraged and ejects Steven Avery and (a man and woman),” says court documents. “It appears that Erica Turner asks Kevin to calm down, and worriedly yells ‘Kevin!’ when the firearm is introduced.”
Police reports say that at the end of the confrontation, Turner can be heard saying, “I can do whatever I want to do; I’m the mayor!”
If true, that’s even worse than using the butt of his gun as a gavel, as far as I’m concerned. You might be able to excuse the mayor’s alleged decision to bang on the table with his pistol as a momentary lapse in judgement, but it’s harder to explain away a power-tripping statement like that.
According to EastIdahoNews.com, in a separate interview with deputies the following day, the mayor said that he grabbed his gun because he was “starting to feel threatened” by an attendee who allegedly interrupted the meeting. Turner claims he spoke to the man and told him to wait until the end of the council meeting to bring up his business, but the man refused to pipe down.
Turner also said that the man and his wife had “issued threats” to another woman who lives just outside of Butte City.
During the interview, Turner reportedly claimed it is “not normal for him to bring firearms to City Council meetings,” but stated the man’s conduct was getting “out of line, that he was standing and moving toward him.”
Turner claimed that’s when he grabbed his holstered gun and banged it on the table.
While it’s not illegal to brandish a firearm in self defense in Idaho, you still must have a reasonable belief that you’re in imminent danger. Otherwise, you’re likely to end up facing the same misdemeanor charge as the mayor, which comes with the potential for a six-month jail sentence and a $500 fine.
For Turner, the most important question is whether he had a reasonable belief that his life (or the lives of others) were in danger, and if so, why did he not actually draw down on the threat instead of banging on the table with the butt of his holstered handgun?
For Butte City Council Members and the few dozen residents of the small town, the biggest question is whether they want to be represented by someone who allegedly believes that his role as mayor gives him the power to do whatever he wants.
And for the rest of us, this incident can at least serve as a reminder that a gun is not a prop or an accessory to demonstrate your power or authority. If you’re carrying for self-defense, you better be able to justify whatever actions you take with your gun or else run the risk of criminal charges. As it turns out, mayors can’t do whatever they want, and that’s true for the rest of us as well.
Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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