Town Meeting members will decide in April whether to opt out of a state law that bans firearms from public administrative buildings and properties, including parks.
At the urging of Police Chief Dana Flynn, the Select Board Tuesday voted 3-2 to recommend to Town Meeting that it support his proposal to exclude Plymouth from the law.
The restrictions are part of sweeping legislation called “An Act Modernizing Firearms Laws” that was signed by Governor Maura Healey last July. It includes a clause that allows communities to opt out of the ban on guns in municipal buildings and other public places.
Firearms are already banned from schools and federal buildings and some parts of national parks.
According to Flynn, one area town – Rochester – has decided to exempt itself from the new state restrictions in the six months since the bill was signed into law. He said some others are considering it, but did not give a number.
Under the law, which took effect in October, only active and retired law enforcement officers may carry firearms into municipal properties, Flynn told the board.
The state law prohibits some 8,000 licensed firearms owners in Plymouth from bringing their weapons onto municipal properties, Flynn said. He told the board that the ban would make those places “soft targets” for anyone with bad intentions.
But Kevin Canty, the board’s vice chair, expressed concern that licensed gun owners responding to a gunman on public property could make the situation more dangerous.
“The theory is they could neutralize that threat, potentially, but they would also be adding themselves to the incident and if your officers, chief, are responding – how would those officers be able to discern who was the first aggressor versus who is the good guy with the gun in that situation?” he asked Flynn.
“In situations like that, you would expect, and we would hope that all involved would follow the directions of the officers arriving on scene,” Flynn said. “We’re not trained to shoot without warning, so we would hope that a responsible gun owner would follow our lead.”
But Canty continued to press Flynn on the advisability of allowing loaded weapons in Town Hall and other public places.
“Are there concerns about the quote/unquote – good guy with a gun also adding to the threat level by poor aim?” he said.
Flynn said that when someone wields a gun that is always a possibility.
Town Manager Derek Brindisi supported Flynn, saying that the state law “disarms our public facilities.”
“It disarms town officials from carrying a weapon,” Brindisi said. “It does not disarm the public.”
In an interview Wednesday, he amplified that point, saying that under the current law it’s impossible for the town to know whether members of the public bring licensed concealed weapons into Town Hall, “however, town employees would be subject to discipline if they violated the law” and officials became aware of it.
Like Flynn, Brindisi worries that the existing ban on guns allows a potential attacker to know that Town Hall or any other municipal building is vulnerable.
Select Board member David Golden joined Canty in opposing the move to exclude Plymouth from the law. Golden argued that allowing licensed gun owners to carry weapons into public buildings does not increase safety.
“We’re not protecting the public,” he said. “We’re expecting what amounts to a vigilante to protect the public.”
Golden asked Flynn whether there were “other recommendations you could make to us to better secure our facilities,” aside from allowing guns in them.
“Not at this time,” Fynn responded.
Select Board member Charlie Bletzer said that were the law to remain in place, the town would need “full-time security in the buildings” to enforce it.
“Right now, anyone can come in with a gun, and luckily nothing’s happened,” he said.
In the end, board chair Dick Quintal – who said he would defer to Flynn’s expertise – along with Bletzer and board member John Mahoney voted in favor of supporting the exemption.
The National Rifle Association is suing the state over the law, though not specifically because of the section on bringing weapons to public buildings and parks or preserves.
The debate will be settled at Town Meeting on April 5.
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org. Mark Pothier of the Independent staff contributed to this report.