Lincoln TC resolution backs gun rights

Council unanimously rejects General Assembly bills to restrict possession

LINCOLN — In response to the General Assembly’s consideration of bills that would ban assault weapons and large capacity gun magazines and enact other gun possession restrictions, members of the Town Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution that objected to the legislative moves and voiced support for Second Amendment gun rights.

The resolution was similar to one recently approved by town council members in Burrillville.

“Basically, it is a resolution in support of local residents who are gun owners that oppose the legislation that is before the House and Senate currently at the statehouse,” Councilman Kenneth G. Pichette said while explaining his move to file the resolution with the council.

“Burrillville passed a resolution this past week and I was sent a copy.”

“And being a member of the Manville Sportsmens’ Rod and Gun Club, a lot of the members that are there reached out and asked me if this was something I would consider bringing to the Town of Lincoln as a resolution,” Pichette said.

The resolution sends a message to the statehouse that “legal gun owners and people like myself and others that possess firearms and do it safely, whether it is for recreation or hunting – not for illegal activity – do not get infringed when it comes by the legislation that is being looked at at the statehouse,” Pichette said.

The resolution was lengthy, but Pichette said “I think people understand the gist of why we’re bringing this forward.”

The resolution states that the Town Council of the Town of Lincoln “find(s) and declare(s) that these gun restriction bills, if enacted by the Rhode Island General Assembly, infringe upon the rights of the people of the town of Lincoln and the people of the state of Rhode Island to keep and bear arms. We are collectively opposed to the infringement of these rights established by our Founding Fathers.”

Pichette said he is a “firm believer in the Second Amendment.”

“I just feel a lot of the things going on right now are legislating from the heart and not the brain at this point, and I would just like to see this pass as a statement from our town supporting all the other people that recreationally use their firearms, or even protecting and defending their households,” Pichette said. “I

feel that that is an important thing that we should be able to do, and I am hoping that I can have support on this.”

Councilman Bruce Ogni said he would stand in support of the resolution.

“I agree with Councilman Pichette. People should have the right to protect their property,” Ogni said. “People who possess guns lawfully and do the right thing should not be infringed upon, so I support this.”

Councilman Arthur S. Russo Jr. offered that he had been raised “in a family where they certainly cherished the Second Amendment.”

“My grandfather, my father, many of my uncles, all hunters as well as sportsmen with weapons,” Russo said. “They taught both my brother and I very early on, back when we were in the seventh or eighth grade, about hunter safety courses,” Russo said. “So the Second Amendment is something that I can still appreciate as an adult – although I’m not a gun owner – so I am going to rise in support of protecting those rights.”

Councilwoman Pamela M. Azar said she was “totally in support” of the resolution, and Council President Keith E. Macksoud pointed to the potential burden the town might face in enforcing some of the proposed gun law changes.

“If these things were to pass, it does put a lot of unfunded mandates upon local government and makes the towns the ones that have to confiscate and store and do other things,” Macksoud said. “I just think for the town that’s bad, and also as a legal gun owner myself, that that is not something I would like to see happen and have my rights infringed.”