Residents, elected officials and clergy gathered at Greenwich Town Hall on Friday to honor victims and survivors of gun violence, and raise awareness about the public health crisis of gun violence.
Many attendees wore orange in an effort inspired by the friends of Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old girl who in 2013 was shot and killed in a Chicago park as an innocent bystander. Hadiya’s birthday was June 2, and the color orange is worn by hunters to protect themselves. It signals to others, “Don’t shoot.”
During the event First Selectman Fred Camillo emphasized that most gun owners were responsible. He pointed a finger at legislation resulting in lenient laws involving juveniles.
“Most of my friends own guns. And they have for decades. They’re not the problem,” he said. “I can tell you, as the police commissioner here, our Police department is frustrated with the laws – the lenient laws that are passed by legislatures. We can’t keep some juveniles more than seven or eight hours.”
“It starts with petty crime, and it goes into stealing cars,” he said. “The next thing you know, it’s into gun violence.”
Jonathan Perloe, Director of Communications for CT Against Gun Violence and Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo. May 31, 2024 Photo Leslie Yager
Jonathan Perloe, Director of Communications for CT Against Gun Violence, said the widespread acceptance of guns for personal safety was so great that there were more guns than people in the US.
“But if guns made us safer, we’d be the safest country on earth. We aren’t. Just the opposite,” he said.
“Yes, there are a lot of responsible gun owners, and we’re thankful,” Perloe continued. “But there are also significant numbers of irresponsible gun owners, and that is one of the reasons we have a gun violence problem in America.”
“Gun theft is how legal guns become crime guns. We need gun owners to be more responsible, and that’s behind some of the legislation passed in Connecticut.”
Perloe said last year Governor Lamont introduced and signed into law the most comprehensive set of gun violence prevention measures since Sandy Hook, including more stringent provisions for serious firearm offenders.
“The bill was voted for by almost the entire Greenwich delegation,” Perloe added. “As voters it’s important for you to keep track of who does and does not support stronger gun laws.”
The comment was a reference to State Senator Ryan Fazio (R-36) who was one of 11 Senators to vote against the bill. Fazio attended the event but members of the Greenwich delegation did not address the crowd.
After the event a group of protesters lined up outside town hall with posters saying, “Lyin’ Ryan won’t protect our kids,” “Fazio – our pro gun anti-safety Senator,” and, “Ryan Fazio, the NRA’s choice for Greenwich.”
Protesters against State Senator Fazio’s voting record on gun safety lined up outside Greenwich Town Hall, Friday, May 31, 2024 Photo: Leslie Yager
Over the weekend Senator Fazio said in an email that he stood by his record supporting strong gun safety laws and effective enforcement.
“This year I was glad to co-sponsor a new law strengthening background checks to stop people with a criminal history from legally purchasing guns. Last year I proposed comprehensive legislation doing three things: strengthening our firearm background check system; creating a grant program to support school resource officers; and giving police tools to take illegal guns off the street.”
Fazio continued, “Unfortunately, Senate Democrats opposed those proposals. The rhetoric doesn’t always match the substance or results of their policies. They voted to extinguish gun convictions from criminal records in some cases.”
“Democrats’ other gun bill from 2023 was sprawling and included some good and some bad, but overall it would not reduce gun crime. It will create criminals out of law-abiding citizens and victims of crime who had their houses broken into and legal firearms stolen – among other things. On their watch, gun violence has increased substantially the last five years because they’ve weakened enforcement. We can do better to create a safer state. While we sometimes disagree on policies I appreciate that there is broad desire for better outcomes.”
Fazio’s Democratic opponent Nick Simmons in the 36th district, who also attended the event on Friday, said in an email that the issue of gun safety was personal for him and that he was disappointed in Senator Fazio’s vote against House Bill 6667, An Act Addressing Gun Violence.
The bill passed the House of Representatives on May 25, 2023, in a vote of 96-51, and it passed the Senate last June in a vote of 24-11.
A few of the major provisions of the law include closing loopholes in the state’s ban on assault weapons; banning the open carry of firearms in public; increasing bail, probation and parole responses for high risk repeat offenders; updating the state’s 2019 ban on unregistered “ghost guns” to include those assembled prior to the enactment of that ban; preventing the bulk purchasing of handguns; increasing gun dealer accountability; expanding the state’s safe storage laws; making the commission of a family violence crime or federal misdemeanor crime of domestic violence into an automatic disqualifier for having a pistol permit.
“I was teaching in Harlem the day the Sandy Hook massacre happened,” Simmons recalled. “We did not know whether this was going to be a copycat event. So I had to plan out where in my classroom I would stand to take a bullet for my students. I will never forget the fear in my students eyes that maybe our school would be next.”
Simmons also said he was proud to have served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Lamont when he signed into law the bill enacting some of the toughest gun regulations in the country.
“As a new father raising a family only 20 miles from the Sandy Hook school shooting, I was supremely disappointed in our current State Senator for voting against this bill to keep our children and community safe from shootings and violence.”
Jonathan Perloe, Director of Communications for CT Against Gun Violence; State Rep Rachel Khanna (D-149) Democratic Selectperson Janet Stone McGuigan State Rep Steve Meskers (D-150); State Rep Hector Arzeno (D-151) and Nick Simmons. May 31, 2024 Photo: Leslie Yager
Other speakers at Friday’s event included Jessie DiMuzio, Director of the YWCA Greenwich Harmony Project, who said firearms were a growing concern for people experiencing domestic and sexual violence.
“The link between guns and domestic violence is unfortunately all too clear,” DiMuzio said. “Over half of all intimate partner homicides are committed with guns. About 4.5 million women around the United States have been threatened with a gun, and 1 million have been shot at by an intimate partner.”
Also, DiMuzio said research revealed a link between mass shootings and domestic violence. In 68% of mass shootings from 2014 to 2019, the shooter either killed family or intimate partners during or before the mass shooting or had a history of domestic violence.
“Thankfully, Connecticut, with strong support from legislators, and organizations like CAGV has some of the strongest gun safety laws in the nation, including strong protections to prevent gun ownership and access for those subject to a civil family violence restraining order or criminal protective order, or convicted of a family violence crime.”
Perloe shared a poster he’d made in 2013 at the March for Change, shortly after the Sandy Hook school shooting.
He recalled that at the time 1,774 Americans had been killed by gun violence since 2012.
“Now the number is more than 450,000. In the US, guns are now the leading cause of death for children and teens.”
And while Connecticut is fortunate to have one of the lowest gun death rates – half the national average – the state confronts a crisis nevertheless.
“Someone dies by a gun on average in Connecticut every 36 hours. Although down from a pandemic highs, the 219 people killed with firearms last year is the third highest in a decade.”
Perloe talked about an ever-present fear among students and teachers that their school will be the next Sandy Hook, Uvalde, Parkland or Columbine.
“I remember the terror my daughter felt when she had to hide under her desk at GHS during a lockdown – and it wasn’t a drill,” he recalled.
He said in urban communities, the fear of gun violence extends to children in fear of being shot going to and from school.
“Toxic stress from just being exposed to gun violence during childhood can change brain development. It leads to a wide range of harmful effects, especially related to learning.”
He noted toxic stress is also linked chronic health problems, depression, substance abuse, forming healthy relationships and having stable employment.