Previous Story
AG bets agree: CNMI does not need more guns
DPS commissioner reiterates position that CNMI safer without handguns
The two contenders for the first elected attorney general in the CNMI both agree that the Commonwealth does not need more guns.
Former Superior Court presiding judge Edward Manibusan and attorney Michael Norita Evangelista expressed their position that the CNMI gun control law should remain as it is.
The issue was among the many questions raised by members of the CNMI Bar Association during their general membership meeting on Thursday at Hyatt Regency Saipan’s Giovanni’s Restaurant.
Manibusan said civilians in the CNMI are only allowed to possess .22 caliber rifles and .410 shotguns.
“To be honest with you, we like the situation, what we have right now,” Manibusan said. “We don’t need any more guns in the Commonwealth.”
Manibusan said the Commonwealth can’t even control alcohol and betel nuts.
“Just imagine having more guns, what it will do to this community. We are safe now without them. I think we should leave it that way,” the former presiding judge said.
Evangelista cited a pending case in the U.S. District Court for the NMI about gun possession law issue. He said his personal position is that the Commonwealth is safer the way it is now.
“I support what we have now. I think we should prefer it that way,” he said.
Evangelista said at the end of the day, the District Court for the NMI will decide the issue.
Evangelista was referring to a lawsuit filed by David J. Radich, a U.S. Navy Gulf War veteran, and his wife that challenges the constitutionality of the CNMI Weapons Control Act that prohibits all residents from obtaining handguns for self-defense purposes.
Radich’s wife suffered serious injuries during a home invasion on Saipan in 2010.
Department of Public Safety Commissioner James C. Deleon Guerrero on Friday reiterated his position that the CNMI is a safer place without handguns.
Last July, Deleon Guerrero urged the Legislature not to toy around with the CNMI Weapons Control Act by expanding gun ownership.
He believes that the Weapons Control Act is one of the best pieces of legislation the Legislature has ever come up.
Rep. Christopher Leon Guerrero (Cov-Saipan) in June prefiled a bill that would, among other things, include U.S. lawful permanent residents or “green card” holders among those who will be allowed to obtain firearm identification cards in the CNMI.
