With revision, concealed gun ordinance finally gets 1st passage

Kelcy Dolan
Posted 4/14/15

Councilwoman Camille Vella-Wilkinson (D-Ward 3) is finally seeing the fruits of her labor as concealed carry permits (CCW) legislation received unanimous first passage from the City Council last …

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With revision, concealed gun ordinance finally gets 1st passage

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Councilwoman Camille Vella-Wilkinson (D-Ward 3) is finally seeing the fruits of her labor as concealed carry permits (CCW) legislation received unanimous first passage from the City Council last Tuesday night.

Despite the overwhelming support, it took a lot of deliberation throughout the night to reach an ordinance everyone on the council could get on board with.

Councilmen Joseph Solomon (D-Ward 4), Steven Colantuano (R-Ward 1) and Edgar Ladouceur (D-Ward 5) all had concerns about the wording of “self-defense” and who has a right to it and what exactly it means.

Vella-Wilkinson, a gun owner herself, started drafting the legislation a little over 18 months ago after her constituents were having difficulty securing permits and were concerned about the $160 Warwick fee.

After researching various local and federal laws, she presented her ordinance to the city council several times for input and revisions. She also met with the Board of Public Safety and the Police Department for suggestions.

In the legislation Vella-Wilkinson had that self-defense was a viable reason for issuing a concealed carry permit, but the council was concerned about what does and does not count as self-defense and if it was too broad of a statement for the legislation.

Vella-Wilkinson said that as the “crux of the 2nd Amendment,” self-defense is a crucial part of the bill. She did, though, add to the ordinance that self-defense would be considered an appropriate reason to issue a CCW if the permit seeker has documented proof, either in a written complaint or police report within the last six months.

The biggest issue, though, was whether or not someone indicted of a crime could be issued a CCW. Originally, Vella-Wilkinson had mandated that indicted persons could not be issued a permit, but removed it after hearing from the solicitor and Police Chief Colonel Stephen McCartney.

At the council meeting McCartney said, “As an advisor to this, I would suggest that we should hold the presumption of innocent and wait for a real conviction before taking away someone’s right to a permit.”

Solomon said that although he understands people are innocent until proven guilty, he thinks, “ala Hernandez,” that not including the line would be “putting society in a dangerous position.”

“If someone came in front of the board with violent tendencies, where they weren’t being kind to their fellow man, I wouldn’t want them carrying a concealed gun,” Solomon said.

He even went so far as to say he would vote against the legislation if the amendment was not restored in the ordinance despite being a strong advocate for the 2nd Amendment.

“I can’t have that on my conscious,” he said.

Ladouceur, who had initially favored eliminating the line saying an indictment can be a reason for permit denial, was reminded of his time with the Elizabeth Buffum Chace Center, which serves persons affected by abuse. He said especially in cases of child or domestic abuse he wouldn’t want to see that indicted individual with a gun where alleged violence could escalate.

Colantuono reminded the council that the way it is written, the amendment would make it one of the reasons a board could deny an application.

“Why not just let the trial clear up in the meantime,” Colantuono said. “The application can be on hold so we give a responsible board the responsible tools to handle the situation.”

Solomon said, “Under certain circumstances, we would be stripping the board of a common sense tool to protect our society and possibly allowing someone to repeat their alleged act.”

After hearing her fellow councilmen, Vella-Wilkinson decided to keep the line.

“I felt strongly when I originally wrote this legislation,” she said. “ I was unhappy about bringing that out, but glad to see my brothers here on the council believing the same as myself.”

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