For some, bearing arms is as patriotic as the Fourth of July.

But on the eve of Colorado’s new gun laws, the small town of Westcliffe is deeply divided over whether one political group should carry unloaded weapons in the town’s beloved Independence Day parade.

The Custer County Chamber of Commerce, the parade’s longtime sponsor, canceled this year’s mile-long march through town after the Southern Colorado Patriots Clubannounced it would be carrying guns.

The Tea Party group’s recruiting flier, encouraging fellow Patriots to show up “and make a statement that we still believe in our Constitution” with unloaded rifles, “especially the evil black ones,” slung over the shoulder, sparked political controversy.

A petition to stop the group from carrying guns was circulated. Arguments were had — at town board meetings, among chamber members, on street corners.

The Town of Westcliffe saved the holiday, picking up sponsorship of the parade, but the rift remains.

“It has polarized this community in a week,” said chamber president Donna Hood, who abstained from voting to cancel the parade. “I’m sure safety was an interest with everybody, but I don’t really believe that the Tea Partyers were gonna draw attention to themselves by shooting people going down our small town road.”

The Patriots Club has marched in past parades carrying weapons, although the guns were sometimes concealed, said club member and Westcliffe town trustee Joe Cascarelli

.

But this year is different.

Two gun-related bills passed the state legislature this session. The Colorado magazine bill, which limits gun magazines to 15 rounds, and the background-check bill, which requires background checks for all transfers and sales of firearms, take effect Monday.

Sheriffs from around the state, including Custer County’s Fred Jobe, filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against the state saying these laws are unconstitutional.

Jobe said he and several other county sheriffs who filed the lawsuit will lead the group. Custer County deputies will flank it. Club marshals will check to make sure any guns carried in the parade are unloaded, with the safety on, Jobe said.

“No matter what your opinions are, it’s my job to make everybody feel safe,” Jobe said. “This is one way I hope to alleviate their fears, to have people right there with (the Patriot Club).”

But some citizens say they could never feel safe with as many as 300 armed people expected to march.

“I support the Second Amendment … because that’s the law of the land,” said Custer County Democratic Central Committee chairman Roland Williams

. “The issue is, does it make common sense and is it worth putting your community at a potential risk?”

Westcliffe Mayor Christy Veltrie said she has been going to the parade since she was a little girl. The Independence Day weekend celebration — complete with food vendors, crafts, a car show and fireworks — brings the sleepy town to life.

“It actually is the busiest day for our merchants the whole year,” Veltrie said. “We’re not a big enough community to be divided like that.”

Westcliffe and its sister town, Silver Cliff, make up about a quarter of Custer County’s population of 4,000 people, Veltrie said.

But about 450 of those 4,000 people have concealed-carry permits, Jobe said. And about 30 percent of Westcliffe’s residents are retired military members.

“This is a Norman Rockwell community with a Western flair,” Cascarelli said.