U.S. Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) says small communities like the CNMI should have the right to decide for themselves on how they regulate guns.<\/p>\n
Noting last week\u2019s shootings in Baton Rouge, Minnesota, and Dallas that shook the hearts and core of the American people with regards to race and gun violence, Sablan in his Saturday newsletter shared a statement to House Speaker Paul Ryan on the issue of \u201cGun and the Marianas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sablan said he wanted to acknowledge the work of local officials and \u201cpoint Congress in the direction of the same kind of reasonable solutions that the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is putting in place to make sure that guns do not become a threat to our safety.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the CNMI Legislature and Gov. Ralph DLG Torres have instituted sensible limits on gun ownership that reflect the values and concerns of our community. <\/p>\n
In his July 6 statement available in the Congressional Record, Sablan said people in the Northern Marianas are concerned that guns \u201ccould become more common in \u201cour islands, more easily obtained, and a threat to public safety.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do have guns: for hunting, for target practice. Police officers carry weapons. And we have had tragedies: a child shot accidentally, a mass murder\/suicide. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut generally people feel safe. We do not worry that someone may get a gun and use it for the wrong reasons. <\/p>\n
However, Sablan adds that this \u201cfeeling of safety\u201d has changed recently.<\/p>\n
He noted how recently the federal court ruled that the Supreme Court\u2019s Heller decision applied in the CNMI; and people had a right to keep a handgun in their home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand that decision. The Second Amendment applies in our islands. We voted to make it apply, when we joined the United States 40 years ago. But the people I represent do not want to see handguns everywhere in our community. We certainly do not want the kind of assault rifles that terrorists use\u2014most recently in Orlando,\u201d Sablan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd our local legislature has taken action to limit handguns and ban assault rifles. I support those actions. I support the right of small communities like my own to decide for themselves about guns,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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