Plan to amend gun control law worries Senate

Following concerns on the safety of the community, the Senate is expected to scrutinize legislation that will amend the Weapons Control Act to encourage development of resorts offering shooting practices and target ranges.

While supportive of the efforts to bring in new investments into the CNMI, Senate President Paul A. Manglona said he needs to consider safety concerns when the measure is deliberated in the upper house.

The House of Representatives passed early this week in a split vote HB 12-212 offered by Floor Leader Oscar M. Babauta in an effort to lure so-called shooting resorts into the Commonwealth.

If it becomes law, it will permit patrons and guests of these resorts to carry within their premises to handguns, shotguns and rifles as well as ammunition with caliber of 22, 32, 38, 45, 9 mm, 12 gauge, 410 gauge and 5.56 mm.

But some members of the House balked at the idea, citing proliferation of smuggled handguns here and even shooting practice in the middle of the ocean to evade authorities.

“We want to look into that and make sure that whatever we do is the right thing,” Mr. Manglona told reporters when asked for the Senate’s position on the bill.

“I know that we are after investments and we should bend backwards to bring in investors. However, we should also be mindful of the safety of the public,” he added.

Senators are likely to review whether safety measures are in place under the proposal, such as type of handguns and steps to ensure that they are properly used and stored within the proposed “shooting resorts,” said Mr. Manglona.

Opponents of the measure argued during the House’s discussion that it could pose dangers to the community at large despite built-in safeguards restricting carrying of the guns within the covered resorts.

But the House Committee on Commerce and Tourism believed this would be an incentive to attract major developers to provide non-traditional activities to tourists and visitors such as target ranges for rifle competition and skeet shooting with shotguns.

Amending the existing gun control laws in the CNMI is one of the steps that the island government must take if it wants these developers to invest here, according to a report prepared by the committee.

During the House’s session last Monday, lawmakers said the islands so far have yet to experience serious accidents arising from illegal use of firearms or activities within shooting galleries.