HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-06-22 ad Hoc - Firearms Safety Committee MinutesOFq
639. INCOR90�
Town of Reading
Meeting Minutes
Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
Date: 2015 -06 -22
Building: Reading Police Station
Address: 15 Union Street
Purpose: General Business
Attendees: Members - Present:
RECEIVED
TOWN CLERK
READING, t A s.
Ad Hoc Firearms Safety Commift0eee P3: S8
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: Conference Room
Session: Open Sessioin
Mark Segalla, Bryn Burkhart, John Scully, David Pinette, Kevin Sexton (at
7:30PM)
Members - Not Present:
John Halsey, Ken Lafferty
Others Present:
Town Counsel Ray Miyares and his Associate
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By:
Topics of Discussion:
The meeting was called to order at 6:36 PM.
Ray Miyares gave an overview of the three proposed bylaw revisions he had sent in advance
(attached). Option #1 is the "most restrictive" (general ban on any discharge of firearms w/
3 logical exceptions), Option #2 is moderately restrictive (firearms discharge on private
property by owner or others requires filing with Town Police) and Options #3 is "least
restrictive" (firearms discharge on private property permitted by owner but granting
permission to others requires filing w /Town Police).
Deputy Chief Mark Segalla stated that he and Chief Cormier favor Option #1, as it is the
most restrictive and safest for our community, per their opinion.
Bryn Burkhart stated she was in favor of Option #1 as well.
A question was asked - will take the words hunting out of our current bylaw be a problem
with the AG? Ray Miyares said no, we are starting from scratch and revising the entire
bylaw with a focus on the discharge of firearms and we are not trying to legislate hunting.
David Pinette asked if we could revise the opening of all three bylaws with regards to how it
defines different types of firearms. Why do we have to give a description of machine guns
(he feels it could be inflammatory), rifle, shotgun, etc?
We worked on truncating the opening section - rather than creating definitions of different
classifications of weapons, revise to include "weapons of any description, from which shot or
a bullet can be discharged."
Then added "propellant" to the description of firearms - which would make things like a BB
gun, paintball gun and air rifle exempt from the bylaw. We had discussed expressly stating
what was exempt from the bylaw but then decided that would make it more complicated.
David Pinette expressed a desire to keep it simple, and people seemed to agree.
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John Scully said he was inclined to support Option #1 (general ban) but wanted to have a
fourth exception which gave private property owners rights to discharge on their own
property.
This was supported by David Pinette as well.
Bryn Burkhart stated that she thought we should be crafting a bylaw for the Town of
Reading - in what instances would a private property owner discharge a firearm on their
property for purposes other than lawful defense of life /property as outlined in the proposed
revision? If it was for hunting or target practice, is that OK given how thickly settled our
town is? Case in point: the Timberneck Swamp area that brought about this entire
committee would still be an issue if we grant private property owners the right to discharge
on their own property.
Then we discussed putting in words about not being able to carry on Conservation Land -
but this was deemed too restrictive and would not allow the bylaw to "stand on its own" -
which is the intent of Town Counsel - to have a bylaw that will not be affected by any
changes in Mass General Law.
Kevin Sexton mentioned that the instances in which an owner might grant permission to
another to discharge a firearm on private property would be "rare for our town makeup."
Bryn Burkhart agreed.
Town Counsel agreed to try and revise Option #1 with some sort of private property owner
rights.
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