Assembly weighs gun-control measures

OFF TARGET? Bullseye Shooting Supplies owner Paul Connolly has been in the firearms business for 35 years. He says stricter gun-control measures would “make criminals out of law-abiding citizens.” / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL PERSSON
OFF TARGET? Bullseye Shooting Supplies owner Paul Connolly has been in the firearms business for 35 years. He says stricter gun-control measures would “make criminals out of law-abiding citizens.” / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL PERSSON

Changes to gun laws being considered by the General Assembly have generated strong reactions on both sides of the debate, reflecting the national controversy heightened by the shooting massacre of 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn.
Rhode Island gun dealers, like many of their counterparts across the country, are among the most vocal opponents of stronger gun laws.
Nine pieces of proposed gun-safety legislation are a collaborative effort of Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee, Attorney General Peter Kilmartin, law-enforcement officials and General Assembly leadership. They include proposals to ban the manufacture, sale, purchase or possession of semi-automatic assault weapons; increasing penalties for carrying a stolen firearm when committing a crime and making the attorney general’s office the only licensing and permitting authority to carry a pistol or revolver.
“I’m opposed to the bills, absolutely. They wouldn’t do anything to stop or reduce crime,” said Paul Connolly, owner of Bullseye Shooting Supplies, who has been in the firearms business for 35 years, including 29 years at his current Woonsocket location.
“They would just make criminals out of law-abiding citizens. Do you think everyone will register their guns? People don’t trust the government,” said Connolly. “The second amendment wasn’t put in there for hunting. It was put in there because people had fought an unjust government to gain their independence.”
It’s likely at least some of the bills will fail to win General Assembly approval this year. Last week they were all still bottled up in committees in the House and Senate.
“All nine bills in the gun package, including those dealing with mental-health issues, have been reviewed by the House Judiciary Committee during an extensive public hearing,” said Larry Berman, a spokesman for House Democratic leadership. “It is Speaker [Gordon D.] Fox’s hope that some of the bills will be brought forward for full House votes this year, while others will need further study over the off-session. He is in process of discussing these bills with the members of his leadership team and the Judiciary Committee members.” Additional legislation related to gun safety include House Bill 5573, proposed by Rep. Linda Finn, D-Middletown, which requires registration of firearms and for “that information … be retained and maintained rather than destroyed.”
“Most people don’t know there’s no registration,” said Finn, who grew up in Carmel, N.Y. and as a teenager worked in her father’s lumber yard 30 minutes from home in Newtown, Conn., where the shootings occurred on Dec. 14, 2012. “We just don’t have a handle on where the guns are and who has them and we’re seeing these atrocities.
“I understand people have a right to have a gun to protect themselves,” said Finn. “But one of the biggest functions of government is public safety.” The bill last week was still awaiting House Judiciary Committee action.
Rhode Island state law on criminal offenses related to weapons, section 11-47-41, states: “Government firearm registration prohibited. No government agency of this state or its subdivisions shall keep or cause to be kept any list or register of privately owned firearms or any list or register of the owners of those firearms; provided, that the provisions of this section shall not apply to firearms which have been used in committing any crime of violence, nor to any person who has been convicted of a crime of violence.” “To me, registration just makes sense,” said Finn. “In the state now, they have to keep a gun registration in the dealership, but it can take four-to-six weeks to go to individual gun dealers to get the information.”
Dominic Calarco, owner of Island Gun Shop in Portsmouth, has a different view.
“There’s no reason to have registration. It’s not necessary,” he said. “Every firearm has a fingerprint. It’s a marking on the casing that can’t be duplicated.”
That marking could be tracked to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said Calarco.
Like many nationwide who oppose strengthening of gun laws, Calarco said it’s not licensed and responsible gun owners who are the problem.
“I’m not in favor of any of the proposals because they don’t make sense,” Calarco said. “There isn’t anything in any of them, in my opinion, that’s going to stop the violence. The real issue is that drug dealers and gang members are the ones committing the violence.” While Calarco acknowledges that supporters of the gun-safety proposals mean well, he said one issue is that information on mental-health issues related to gun purchasers is not available.
“I’m all for background checks, but when we do a background check, we don’t know if there’s a problem with the person mentally,” he said. “They refuse to give the FBI information on medical conditions, especially mental-health issues.”
One of the proposals would make the attorney general’s office the only licensing and permitting authority to carry a pistol or revolver.
“Now the local police department or the attorney general can issue the permit,” said Calarco. “I don’t know this attorney general and he may be as honest as Abe Lincoln, but he’s not going to be in office forever. People are afraid an attorney general may use the permitting authority to gain political favor.”
The package of nine proposals supported by Chafee and legislative leadership includes House Bill 5990, called the Gun Control and Safe Firearms Act, proposed by Rep. Joseph Almeida, D-Providence, and Sen. Joshua Miller, D-Cranston, that would ban the manufacture, sale, purchase or possession of semi-automatic assault weapons. It would also ban high-capacity magazines, belts and similar devices.
The proposals also include: to increase from 10 to 15 years the penalty for carrying a stolen firearm when committing a crime; to make straw purchasing, which is one person buying a weapon and transferring it to another person, a crime and to make it illegal to manufacture, sell, purchase or possess any firearm that has an altered, obliterated or removed mark of identification.
“I think it’s really important that we take a comprehensive look at the gun control laws that we have,” said Sen. Gayle Goldin, D-Providence, who introduced Senate Bill 455 on the alteration of identification numbers on firearms. “This is a series of recommendations that the General Assembly leadership and the attorney general have looked at to make sure Rhode Island is a safer place to live and work.” •

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