RI: Lawmakers stand up for guns (for themselves)

Josey1

Lawmakers stand up for guns State Police Supt. Steven M. Pare tells a legislative panel the State House would be safer if legislators who are police officers check their guns at the door. Top RI News stories:Last update: 1.11.2002 00:19BY EDWARD FITZPATRICK Journal State House Bureau PROVIDENCE -- If Rhode Island wants the maximum level of security at the State House, no one but on-duty officers should be carrying concealed weapons in the building, the state police superintendent said yesterday. But a lineup of legislators disagreed, saying security is enhanced when lawmakers who are current or retired police officers carry their guns in the House and Senate chambers. The passionate debate played out last night before the legislative committee on State House security. The panel plans to vote on the issue next week. Governor Almond's administration, which maintains that it controls State House security, wants everybody but on-duty, uniformed police officers to hand over their guns, which would be kept in lockers and returned when they leave the building. Col. Steven M. Pare, the head of the state police, made the case last night, saying, "My recommendation is that if you want a safe and sterile environment at the State House, then you should have no concealed weapons in the building. It depends on the level of security you want to adopt. If an exception is made, then security is lessened." Legislators argued that the State House is not a "sterile environment," saying it's nearly impossible to ensure no weapons enter the building. If there were a disturbance, they said, legislators who are trained police officers could help supplement an understaffed Capitol Police force. "We cannot make this like the prisons or the courthouses -- a total gun-free environment," Rep. Joseph A. Trillo, the committee chairman, told Pare. "In view of that, do you still feel as though we should disarm police officers [legislators] who are capable of helping if there were an emergency in this building?" Pare replied, "I think you should seriously consider it, yes." Administration officials say they're concerned that the Capitol Police would be unable to tell the good guys from the bad guys if shooting started in the State House and legislators began pulling out their weapons. They say they don't want a repeat of the death of Cornel Young Jr., a Providence police officer who was shot by two fellow officers while he was trying to help them while he was off-duty. Legislators who are officers emphasized that they are trained when and how to use weapons. "We don't have any John Waynes up here that are going to pull out a six-shooter," said Rep. Todd R. Brien, D-Woonsocket, a committee member and detective sergeant in the Woonsocket Police Department. "We are professionals. We evaluate the situation. We are not going to be pulling out a weapon every time something happens." Another committee member, Sen. Michael J. Damiani, D-East Providence, said he received at least 50 phone calls yesterday after The Journal ran a story about the controversy. "They all said 'stick to your guns,' " he said. Damiani, a retired police officer who comes to the Senate chamber with a .45-caliber automatic pistol in a belt holster, said he will not relinquish his gun no matter what rules are passed. "In police work, you don't make a lot of friends. I've run into people up here who are wearing the khakis because I sent them to . . . the Gray Bar Hotel," he said, referring to inmates who clean the State House. Sen. Aram G. Garabedian, D-Cranston, stood behind Damiani, resting his hands on Damiani's shoulders, telling the committee he is glad his colleague is armed in the Senate chamber. "If we have two or three legislators who are police officers, it makes me feel more comfortable," he said. Rep. Robert D. Sullivan, D-East Providence, a retired police officer, said he never carried a gun while off-duty and doesn't bring one to the State House. "I don't like guns," he said. But Sullivan said he is glad other legislators who are active police officers are armed, emphasizing that those officers receive more training than the Capitol Police. "Taking guns away from working police officers deprives us of the security we need and deserve here at the State House," he said. Trillo, R-Warwick, said he has begun looking at what is done in neighboring states. Connecticut prohibits its legislators from carrying guns in its capitol, but it does nothing to enforce the rule. Massachusetts does not have a weapons policy for legislators, but it has a full-time legislature so none of the members are police officers, he said. Trillo said that like Rhode Island, both Connecticut and Massachusetts began upgrading statehouse security after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Massachusetts already has metal detectors at its capitol, but lawmakers can pass around them, he said. Connecticut doesn't have metal detectors at its capitol, but it plans to get them, he said. Trillo's committee has come up with a 30-point State House security plan that would cost nearly $300,000. The administration has agreed with many of those proposals but has disagreed with the committee over the gun policy. A committee member, Rep. Peter T. Ginaitt, D-Warwick, accused the administration of halting other security projects because of the dispute. He noted that a door that locks electronically has been installed but isn't working. Capitol Police Chief Stephen G. Tocco denied Ginaitt's charge, saying he hopes to have metal detectors and a wider electronic door installed in two to three weeks. http://projo.com/cgi-bin/story.pl/news/06840661.htm

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KABA NOTE: What they mean is that THEIR security is enhanced, obviously all they care about.