MOULTRIE, Ga. — The Moultrie Sons of Confederate Veterans are upset that they won’t be allowed to shoot their muskets at the Moultrie Christmas parade.

Charlie Parks, a member of the group, spoke out at the city council meeting about his disappointment in the decision made.

“I don’t know what the problem is,” said Parks. “I don’t think there is no danger there. Whenever we do fire our muskets we do something called extreme elevation, where our muskets are up in the air and then we fire them and it is basically nothing but a controlled fire cracker. There’s no bullets in them; its just powder and primer. It’s part of our heritage and it’s part of our tradition.”

The issue stems from an incident that happened at last year’s Christmas parade where the group’s reenactors were warned about firing their muskets; they were told if they did it again they would be out of the parade.

City Manager Pete Dillard said the city’s ordinance against discharging a firearm in the city had not been applied to the group before, but now it would be.

“There is a city ordinance that has been on the books for over 20 years that says you cannot discharge a weapon within the city limits,” Dillard said. “It has been ignored in the past, but it’s still a law. Last year at the Christmas parade we asked them not to fire their muskets. They said they haven’t had any problems, but we are the ones getting the complaints from people saying their kids are scared and people with PTSD are traumatized by the sounds. It’s not my place to evaluate stuff like that, but it is my job to protect the people.”

The Christmas parade is held the second Thursday of December every year. As of right now, the Moultrie Sons of Confederate Veterans are still scheduled to appear in this year’s parade.