PROVIDENCE — Local pastors are expressing their support for a nine-point package of legislative bills introduced last week by state legislators in an effort to reduce gun violence in the Ocean State.
The bills, which are being sponsored in both the House and Senate, address several areas, including banning the sales of certain types of weapons — including semiautomatic weapons — as well as large capacity magazines, which hold ammunition.
The bills also call for strengthening background checks, providing behavioral health information to the F.B.I. for inclusion in its national background check database and improving firearms safety by stiffening penalties for those who fail to report a lost or stolen firearm as well as for those who purchase a gun for use by another to commit a violent crime.
Father Gerald G. Harbour, pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish, Pawtucket, has been watching as the call to toughen the nation’s gun laws has begun to gain some traction in Congress since the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
“It’s a little better than it was, but so much more has to be done,” Father Harbour said, reflecting on the events last December in Newtown, Conn., in which 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot his mother in their home before embarking on a rampage at the small town’s elementary school, killing 20 students and six staff members, and then turning the gun on himself.
He said that while crimes involving guns in the area of the parish are infrequent, the neighborhood is a tough one. Two weeks ago, the parish’s Easter collection was stolen while he celebrated Mass.
Father Harbour said that it is good for both Rhode Island and the nation to revisit ways of keeping guns out of the hands of those who would use them to harm others.
“We’ve got to do something, that’s for sure,” he said.
For Father Jaime Garcia, gun violence was a way of life that he had to deal with while growing up in his native Guatemala.
Certain areas of the country are still plagued by violence, including murder and kidnapping, making travel in the beautiful Central American nation especially hazardous for outsiders.
It was due to the violence that the pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Parish, Providence, immigrated to the United States.
“There was a lot of shooting, it was very bad in my country,” he said.
Although crimes involving guns are not nearly as frequent as they are back in his homeland, Father Garcia believes that anything that can be done to keep guns out of the hands of those who should not have them must be done.
“Absolutely,” he said. “As a community, we have to be active and make everybody aware [of ways to curb gun violence].”
He said that given what he has seen in the headlines about the school shooting in Newtown, as well as shootings at other schools, he worries about his nephews and nieces who are of school age.
“Every day I pray for them,” Father Garcia said. “You never know if when they go off to school, or to the mall or the movies they will ever come back.”
He said that in the area around his parish he fortunately has not had to contend with instances of gun violence.
“They always respect the area of the church,” he said.
While pastors support efforts to reduce the occurrences of gun violence across the diocese, one pastor in South Providence is also concerned that imposing restrictions that are too stringent may also impact the rights of law-abiding citizens.
“Of course we do not want to see it happen again,” said Father Daniel J. Sweet, pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Parish, referring to the tragedy at Newtown. But he also believes that any legislation that might impede on a citizen’s right to self-defense must not be a hasty reaction to what was indeed a horrific crime.
“The Second Amendment is a very important right and protection in the Constitution,” Father Sweet said. “I think the founders of our country were very wise so as not to impede on the right of the family to protect itself.
In January, just a few weeks after the Newtown tragedy, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin penned a column in Rhode Island Catholic that takes a very clear stance on gun ownership, suggesting that owning a gun is not an absolute right in America.
“As a personal right it always has to be balanced with the legitimate rights of other people, and with protecting the common good. That’s a principle that applies to all individual freedoms,” the bishop said in his column.
The bishop also said that for diocesan shepherds to enter the discussion about firearms was nothing new.
He noted that in 2000, the Bishops of the United States addressed the issue of gun control and are on record for supporting legislation that would: control the sale and use of firearms; make guns safer, discouraging, especially, their use by children; protect society from the violence associated with assault weapons; and confront the consequences of addiction and mental illness in causing crime.
“How many children must die, how many families must suffer, how many communities must be forever scarred,” until we as a society agree to reasonable limits on firearms?” he asked. “If the answer’s not clear now, it never will be.”
Bills introduced in The General Assembly
1.) Gun Control and Safe Firearms Act: This bill bans the manufacture, sale, purchase or possession of semi-automatic assault weapons after July 1, 2013. It also bans high capacity magazines, belts, drums, feed strips or similar devices manufactured on or after July 1. It does not apply if the weapon is an antique, is inoperable, or was manufactured prior to July 1, 1963, and does not apply to an attached tubular device capable of operating only with .22 caliber rimfire ammunition. (2013-H5990) by Rep. Joseph S. Almeida (D-Dist. 12, Providence) and (2013-S0859) by Sen. Joshua Miller (D-Dist. 28, Cranston, Providence).
(2013-H5990)
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText13/HouseText13/H5990.pdf
(2013-S0859)
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText13/SenateText13/S0859.pdf
2.) Firearms Violations: This bill increases the maximum penalty for carrying a stolen firearm when committing a crime of violence from 10 years to 15 years for a first offense. It makes it unlawful for anyone to possess a stolen firearm, setting a penalty of not less than three years or more than 15 years in prison. (2013-H5991) by Rep. Marvin L. Abney (D-Dist. 73, Newport, Middletown) and (2013-S0860) by Sen. Adam J. Satchell (D-Dist. 9, West Warwick).
(2013-H5991)
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText13/HouseText13/H5991.pdf
(2013-S0860)
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText13/SenateText13/S0860.pdf
3.) Behavioral Health and Firearms Safety Task Force: The bill creates a task force charged with making recommendations and possibly proposing legislation to support full participation in the NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System) Index and to act in an advisory capacity to the Relief for Disqualifiers Board. The task force would conduct a review of different states’ approaches for compliance with NICS and work with a newly-created Firearms Task Force to make sure that definitions in chapters of state law related to mental health and substance abuse are consistent with those in firearms statutes. The task force is required to report back to the governor and General Assembly before January 1, 2014. (2013-H5992) by Rep. Deborah Ruggerio (D-Dist. 74, Jamestown, Middletown) and (2013-S0862) by Sen. Catherine Cool Rumsey (D-Dist. 34, Charlestown, Exeter, Hopkinton, Richmond, West Greenwich).
(2013-H5992)
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText13/HouseText13/H5992.pdf
(2013-S0862)
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText13/SenateText13/S0862.pdf
4.) Relief for Disqualifiers Board: This bill creates a board to which individuals can appeal if they are denied a firearm based on a mental health adjudication or commitment or on substance abuse backgrounds as reported in the NICS Index. The board will be composed of a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a member of law enforcement, the director of the RI Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals, and the Mental Health Advocate. Petitioners to the board will be required to submit medical records and other information and the board will be required to hear the petition within 60 days of it being submitted. If denied by the board, the petitioner will be able to appeal to Superior Court. (2013-H5996) by Rep. Elaine A. Coderre (D-Dist. 60, Pawtucket) and (2013-S0861) by Sen. Donna M. Nesselbush (D-Dist. 15, Pawtucket, North Providence).
(2013-H5996)
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText13/HouseText13/H5996.pdf
(2013-S0861)
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText13/SenateText13/S0861.pdf
5.) Firearms Task Force: The bill creates a task force to review gun laws in Rhode Island, reporting back to the governor and General Assembly by January 1, 2014. (2013-H5995) by Rep. Teresa Tanzi (D-Dist. 34, Narragansett, South Kingstown) and (2013-S0863) by Sen. Michael J. McCaffrey (D-Dist. 29, Warwick).
(2013-H5995)
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText13/HouseText13/H5995.pdf
(2013-S0863)
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText13/SenateText13/S0863.pdf
6.) Background Checks and Attorney General Permits (AG Kilmartin bill): These bills would require a person requesting a license or permit to carry a pistol or revolver to undergo national criminal background checks and will make the Attorney General’s office the license and/or permitting authority, as requested by local law enforcement officials. (2013-H5993) by Rep. Larry Valencia (D-Dist. 39, Hopkinton, Exeter, Richmond) and (2013-S0865) by Sen. Gayle L. Goldin (D-Dist. 3, Providence).
(2013-H5993)
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText13/HouseText13/H5993.pdf
(2013-S0865)
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText13/SenateText13/S0865.pdf
7.) Weapons Laws (AG Kilmartin bill): This bill will increase penalties for violations of existing weapons statutes and will make straw purchasing of weapons a crime. Among the various changes proposed for existing law are:
-- Provides that anyone convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence offense cannot purchase, own, carry, transport of have in their possession a firearm and increases penalties for violation.
-- Increases penalties for those who steal a firearm.
-- Provides that if a firearm is sold, transferred, given or conveyed to a minor and that firearm is used in a crime of violence, the person who provided the firearm to a minor will be subject to an additional penalty.
-- Adds a new section to the law to provide that no person, entity or dealer shall sell, loan or transfer a firearm to any person whom they know or have cause to believe is not the actual purchaser (straw purchases).
-- Increases penalties for failing to report a lost or stolen firearm.
(2013-H5994) by Rep. Gregg Amore (D-Dist. 65, East Providence) and (2013-S0864) by Senator Miller.
(2013-H5994)
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText13/HouseText13/H5995.pdf
(2013-S0864)
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText13/SenateText13/S0864.pdf
8.) Possession of Firearm by Minor: These bills make it illegal for anyone under 18 to possess a firearm unless they are involved in a competition, hunting or are accompanied by a parent or qualified adult over 21 who is licensed to possess and use the firearm, in a ceremony, reserve officer training or in firearms education or going back and forth to a range or camp or are engaged in lawful hunting activity.
The House bill,(2013-H5576), was introduced by Rep. Maria E. Cimini (D-Dist. 7, Providence) on behalf of the Attorney General. The Senate bill, (2013-S0425), was introduced by Sen. Harold M. Metts (D-Dist. 6, Providence).
(2013-H5576)
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText13/HouseText13/H5576.pdf
(2013-S0425)
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText13/SenateText13/S0425.pdf
9.) Alteration of Firearm Numbers: These bills make it illegal to manufacture, sell, purchase or possess any firearm that has an altered, obliterated or removed mark of identification, including but not limited to the ID of the maker, model or other identifying marker. The bills do not apply to antiques.
The House bill, (2013-H5286), was introduced by Rep. Robert E. Craven Sr. (D-Dist. 32, North Kingstown) on behalf of the Attorney General. The Senate bill,(2013-S0455), was introduced by Sen. Gayle L. Goldin (D-Dist. 3, Providence).
(2013-H5286)
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText13/HouseText13/H5286.pdf
(2013-S0455)
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText13/SenateText13/S0455.pdf
