Cranston City Council president, Michael J. Farina and Councilman Michael J. Sepe [The Providence Journal, file] ▲ Sepe ▲ Farina ▲

The council's Republican president, Michael Farina, who has a concealed-carry permit, said he brought a pistol to a meeting several years ago. Democratic City Committee Chairman Michael Sepe raises safety concerns and questions whether Farina can be trusted not to get "overly emotional" at meetings.

Correction: An earlier version of this story reported that Democratic City Committee Chairman Michael J. Sepe is a member of the City Council; he is not.

CRANSTON — Is it OK for a City Council member to bring a gun to a council meeting?

If the person has a concealed-carry permit, the answer is yes, according to the council's president, Republican Michael J. Farina, who said he once brought his own Ruger LCP .380-caliber pistol to a meeting.

On that occasion, back in 2015 or 2016, Farina said the council convened immediately after his trip to a gun range. He doesn't need to carry a gun at meetings, he said, nor does he plan to bring one again, but he said that anyone who wants to carry a gun into a council meeting should be able to do so, providing that person has the proper permit.

"It's my right," he said.

Democratic City Committee Chairman Michael J. Sepe disagrees. Quite sharply.

"This type of situation presents a clear and present danger to the other eight council members as well as all of the members of the general public in attendance," Sepe wrote in an Oct. 22 letter to The Providence Journal.

"This potential for mayhem and serious harm cannot be ignored," Sepe wrote.

The discussion about Farina's gun came up during a candidate forum sponsored by the Cranston Herald at the Cranston Public Library on Oct. 18. Farina's comments about his gun prompted Sepe's letter to The Journal, issued under the letterhead of the Cranston Democratic City Committee.

"President Farina's ridiculous choice to carry a concealed weapon to Cranston City Council meetings speaks volumes about him and his judgment and lack of sound reasoning," Sepe said.

Sepe's letter raises the specter of a potential shooting during a council meeting. It cites the 1978 San Francisco case in which both the city's mayor and a member of the Board of Supervisors were fatally shot in City Hall.

"Can we trust President Farina — in the heat of the moment — not to get overly emotional during a council meeting?" said Sepe's letter.

In an interview Wednesday, Farina said he does not regularly carry his Ruger when he leaves his house, and has brought the gun to only one meeting.

Citing his size — 6 feet, 4 inches tall and 320 pounds — Farina said he also does not need a gun to feel secure. He learned about gun safety growing up from his stepfather, who served as a Providence police officer and then as a U.S. marshal. He said he obtained a concealed-carry permit to make it easier to carry the gun to and from a shooting range.

Until about 18 months ago, he and a friend went to the range at Massasoit Gun Club in East Providence about twice a month, he said, adding that the carry permit made it possible to grab a cup of coffee. Without the permit, he said, he couldn't go into the coffee shop with the gun, and he couldn't leave the gun unattended in the car, either. Over the last 18 months, since Farina's friend moved away, Farina has gone to the range only three times, he said.

"This is a baseless accusation from Fantasyland," Farina said, referring to Sepe's letter, "that I'm walking into a council meeting with an Uzi tucked under my belt."

He also responded to Sepe's suggestion that he is susceptible to emotionalism as president of the council.

"I don't think I've lost my cool at all in the two years I've done it," he said.

— mreynold@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7490

On Twitter: @mrkrynlds