The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Newtown activists seek gun ban on town property
NEWTOWN — A local nonprofit that has become one of the country’s leading gun violence prevention groups wants its hometown to ban firearms on town property and at public demonstrations.
The Newtown Action Alliance is particularly focused on preventing Second Amendment counterprotesters from showing up with firearms at its rallies.
“When we have planned rallies, they would arrive early with their guns and, at one point, some members became aggressive,” said Po Murray, chairwoman of the Newtown Action Alliance. “They used their guns to threaten us.”
The state’s largest gun owners’ rights group, headquartered in neighboring Southbury, said its members have no interest in intimidation, but in protecting their Second Amendment privileges.
“The people of Newtown have already shown that they do not support these measures that prevent them from protecting themselves and their family,” said Holly Sullivan, president of the 37,000-member Connecticut Citizens Defense League.
The Newtown-based trade association for the firearm industry agreed.
“It’s sounds like the Newtown Action Alliance wants to repeal the Second Amendment,” said Mark Oliva, a spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. “These proposed ordinances are preposterous on their face and undermine the very
definition of what it means to be American.”
The NAA’s proposed restrictions, which have yet to be formally submitted to Newtown’s Legislative Council for review, would establish a ban on carrying firearms on Newtown property, a ban on carrying firearms within 1,000 feet of a public demonstration and ban the open carrying of long guns in Newtown.
“The firearms ordinance in Newtown is fairly week and almost nonexistent,” Murray said. “Other towns in Connecticut have passed similar measures, and we need to set a better example.”
It’s not clear when the Legislative Council will review the NAA ordinance, although leaders of the nonprofit and the council’s chairman have had informal discussions, Newtown top elected leader said.
“Do I think that people bringing visible firearms to a public meeting could have an intimidating effect? Absolutely,” said Newtown First Selectman Dan Rosenthal. “But is that something that I have seen happen in my twoand-a-half years in office? No.”
Should the Legislative Council vote to review the NAA’s proposed gun ordinances, the matter would go to a subcommittee for a recommendation. Should the subcommittee recommendation be positive, the full Legislative Council would conduct a public hearing, then vote on the ordinances.
The gun policy debate has been a flashpoint in Newtown since the 2012 shooting of 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School. In response, the state adopted some of the toughest gun control legislation in the country. At the same time, some of the grieving parents and community members in Newtown formed nonprofits to advocate for change — Sandy Hook Promise and the NAA are among the most visible groups.
“The Newtown Action Alliance has been protesting the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the second-strongest gun lobby in the nation.”
Po Murray, chairwoman of the Newtown Action Alliance
“The Newtown Action Alliance has been protesting the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the second-strongest gun lobby in the nation,” Murray told a meeting of the Police Commission last week. “Peaceful rallies have become increasingly aggressive when gun enthusiasts attend.”
If the Legislative Council agrees to consider the gun ban ordinances, it would mark the second time it has done so since 2015, when a subcommittee blocked it, calling it unnecessary and potentially difficult to defend in court.
The reason: Connecticut already regulates firearms extensively.
That hasn’t stopped multiple towns in Connecticut from adopting their own regulations, the NAA argues in its draft ordinance. Bridgeport bans firearms in city parks, Danbury forbids firearms at Bear Mountain Reservation recreation areas, and Ridgefield bans carrying or firing guns on open space, to name a few.
Nor does state law preempt Newtown from passing “reasonable” regulations on the use of firearms in town, the NAA’s ordinance argues.
State statutes “are silent as to whether municipalities may enact firearms ordinances,” the NAA draft ban reads. “The general statutory grant of police powers provides the necessary authority for certain such ordinances.”