kikipeepers asked

Should firefighters be exempt from public panhandling rules when they raise money each Labor Day on street corners?

The Castle Rock Town Council has banned street-corner panhandling, but not without weighing the impact to local charities. Mayor Randy Reed said complaints about aggressive panhandlers are rising, and the town needs the ability to make them move on. The ordinance makes panhandling at town intersections a misdemeanor that carries a fine of up to $1,000 and as much as a year in jail. The measure passed 5-2. The town, however, cannot legally single out homeless people and carve out exceptions for others, including the town's firefighters, who raise funds at intersections. Castle Rock firefighters' 'Fill the Boot' collections at intersections each Labor Day weekend have raised $200,000 for the national Muscular Dystrophy Association over the past decade, including $31,000 last year. John Kimbrough said his son and son-in-law are firefighters but said firefighters are putting themselves at an unnecessary risk by collecting money in the streets.

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