Police seize two guns near downtown clubs

Lawrence Police seized two handguns this weekend in a downtown parking lot often used by club-goers.

Both guns were seized in the parking lot of Borders, 700 N.H., which is across the street from Last Call, 729 N.H., and down the street from the Bottleneck, 737 N.H.

About 10:45 p.m. Saturday, an officer saw a group of men drinking out of plastic cups in a vehicle in the parking lot. The officer approached the men, saw a gun magazine inside the car and eventually recovered a Ruger semiautomatic 9 mm handgun, said Sgt. Dan Ward, a police spokesman.

Police seized the gun and cited one of the men for carrying a weapon near a bar. He and three other men – all Kansas City area residents age 21 or 22 – also were cited for having an open container in a car or consuming alcohol in public.

About 3 a.m. Sunday, officers arrested a 19-year-old Kansas City, Mo., man on suspicion of being a minor in possession of alcohol and carrying a weapon near a bar after spotting a handgun on the floorboard of his car.