Addressing gun violence in Hartford with citizen-armed patrols - that’s what a local activist said community members are asking for.
“Historically, oppressed people have taken up arms to protect themselves. As an African American, I don’t see anything wrong with it," activist and gun owner Cornell Lewis said.
Lewis is helping coordinate a response to the recent gun violence in the city.
“We’re patrolling the neighborhood. But we have guns because the Second Amendment says that if you have a license, you are allowed to carry one,” he said.
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Lewis is looking to coordinate armed patrols in Hartford consisting of citizens with legal guns. He said some community members have requested this for an event next month, saying they have no confidence in the police to protect them.
“Many of these people don’t live in the community and the existential angst that we are involved in,” he said.
Criminal Justice Professor Mike Lawlor with the University of New Haven said these civilian armed patrols come with legal risks.
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“You have a duty to retreat if you can with complete safety. So, this whole idea of going towards a problem and trying to break it up and using a gun is going to get you arrested if anybody gets hurt,” Lawlor said.
He said police officers go through a lot of training in Connecticut on when to use firearms in volatile situations.
“There’s no evidence this citizen’s group has any training and that’s a recipe for disaster,” Lawlor said.
Lewis said any armed patrols he’s a part of have been trained to de-escalate and will adhere to legal self-defense.
“We don’t want to fight. We will try to diffuse any kind of situation,” he said.
When asked about the armed patrols, Hartford police said anyone with a legal pistol permit in Connecticut is allowed to carry a firearm. Anyone can open carry a gun until Oct. 1 when new gun control laws banning that take effect.
