He has introduced House Bill 17-90 to amend the Weapons Control Act and bring, he says, the CNMI in compliance with one of the major provisions of the U.S. Constitution.
He is referring to the Second Amendment which protects “our rights to arm ourselves with firearms and other weapons.”
“We have not been abiding with the Constitution that is supposed to guide us,” he said.
Torres, Ind.-Saipan, said it is also provided in the CNMI’s Covenant with the United States that commonwealth citizens are guaranteed the right to bear arms.
“There are many reasons why the wise Founding Fathers of the United States made it so plain, so clear, so simple that the citizens of the country would have the right, yes, the right to keep and bear arms,” he said.
The government, he added, is specifically banned by the U.S. Constitution from interfering in the right of the people to arm themselves.
“Self-protection, hunting, national defense, all of these and many more are valid reasons for having citizens armed. Maybe the most important reason is that it provides the ultimate protection from having a government run as a tyrant over its people,” Torres said.
According to the lawmaker, it is unconstitutional to prohibit the possession and use of hand guns; impose restrictions on the caliber of firearms; and charge fees in excess of the cost of registration.
His bill allows the Department of Public Safety to maintain a registry of firearms.
No one, however, can carry firearms while under the influence of alcohol or narcotics or other disabling drugs, the bill stated.
It likewise prohibits any person to import, sell, transfer, give away, purchase, possess or use any automatic firearm.
All firearms and ammunition unlawfully possessed, carried, used, shipped, transported or delivered into the commonwealth will be forfeited to the CNMI, the bill stated.
