The recall election in Exeter, scheduled for December 14th, is being pushed through mostly by out-of-town gun rights zealots intent on punishing the Exeter Town Council for trying to enact a minor change in the law regarding the concealed weapon permit system.
Rhode Island State Representative Doreen Costa has been involved in this issue from the beginning. Even though she is not a resident of Exeter, she does represent a small section of the town (the corner over by the Yawgoo Ski Area) in the Rhode Island General Assembly.
What the Exeter
Town Council attempted to do was change the law in Rhode Island so that the
Exeter Town Clerk would no longer be responsible for issuing concealed weapon
permits. In most cities and towns residents can go either to their police
chiefs or to the state Attorney General, but Exeter has no police force. So by
state law, the duty of issuing permits falls to the Town Clerk, a person with
no law enforcement training.
On November 11, 2011, Costa agreed with the majority of the Exeter Town Council on the matter. According to the minutes of the regular meeting of the Exeter Town Council from November 11, 2011 Costa originally maintained that “she does not think the responsibility [for issuing concealed weapon permits] should be on the Town Clerk” and that she “is looking into possible help from the State Police on the matter.”
However, at a
special Exeter Town Council meeting held on March 11, 2013, Doreen Costa
changed her position for the benefit of the large crowd of gun enthusiasts in
the audience.
As can be seen in the video of the meeting posted on YouTube
(starting at eight minutes 49 seconds) Costa used her time to read a letter
from Darin Goens of the National Rifle Association, and addressed her comments
primarily to the audience, not to the Town Council. The letter presented the
NRA’s position that the Exeter Town Clerk should maintain responsibility for
issuing concealed weapons permits, a position Costa now agrees with.
This begs the
question, does Doreen Costa represent the citizens of Rhode Island or the
interests of the NRA?
You can help
fight this pernicious recall by going to saveexeter.org
Steve Ahlquist is a writer,
artist and current president of the Humanists of Rhode Island, a non-profit
group dedicated to reason, compassion, optimism and action. He also maintains
the blog Caution Church Ahead, where he writes on the intersection of religion
and politics. The views expressed are his own not necessarily those of any
organization of which he is a member.