Residents Have Say As Committee Talks Gun Ordinance

The Legislative Council's ordinance committee spent Thursday night at Newtown High School tightening up language on a variety of issues revolving around Newtown's controversial firearms ordinance. And a packed crowd -- including both target shooting enthusiasts and concerned neighbors -- turned out to listen and offer opinions.

The existing ordinance prohibits target shooting within "500 feet of a building which is occupied by persons or domesticated animals, unless he has within his possession the prior written permission of the owner or occupier thereof or unless he is on property which he owns or leases."

It has been under scrutiny since last year, when the Newtown Police Commission recommended changes to the council. While turnout did not match March's meeting -- the first since the Dec. 14 shooting -- many residents still took the opportunity to address the committee on their concerns.

Among them were members of the Newtown Fish and Game Club and Parents for a Safer Newtown, who drafted an alternate version of the ordinance.

Among other issues, the committee discussed the language surrounding:

• The definition of "rapid-fire" shooting
• Whether permits should be required for shooting, and under what conditions
• The potential for a system that could allow residents to inform authorities via telephone before shooting
• Hours of the day shooting could take place
• The potential for restrictions on age of shooters
• Duration of shooting

Newtown Police Chief Michael Kehoe joined the committee at the table for discussions. Proposals from Parents for a Safer Newtown have called for allowing the chief the power to approve shooting ranges for use. (The ordinance committee has not offered any proposals to date.)

"Our aim is public safety," said Kehoe. "It's always going to be public safety."

"Continuous target practice is what the annoyance is, and that should be taken into consideration in the language," said Legislative Council chair Jeff Capeci.

Resident Ken Locke asked the committee to use caution if establishing time limits for shooting, and several other enthusiasts agreed the length of time spent on a private range could vary.

"That's kind of a tough thing," said Locke. "I can tell you sometimes I shoot short. But sometimes, the type of target shooting I'm doing can take me two to four hours ... Please give that some good thought."

Parents for a Safer Newtown member Eric Poupon said the shooting in his neighborhood had gone beyond that.

"More than four or five times over the summer, we had six to eight hours of non-stop rapid fire shooting," he said. "The police need to be able to enforce that and shut that down."

Locke also worried about the potential for age restrictions.

"My daughter just turned five, my son six," he said. "They were both given .22s at five years old. Please remember there's people out there in Newtown who do shoot at very young ages, and I hope they won't be restricted."

Attorney Andrew Buzzi, who has spoken at previous discussions, called the committee's work "a good start."

"But I'm not in favor of permitting," he said. "The more you go into that realm, the more issues the town, the chief and the officers have when they're trying to exercise those duties. Once you start down this road, it will be a bureaucratic morass."

Nothing is final, and discussions will continue at future meetings as the committee examines the ordinance.

"This is probably, if I was going to guess, go well into the summer," said committee chair Mary Ann Jacob. "Possibly even the fall."