Retired Westport Police Chief Advocates 'Reasonable' Gun Control

Retired Westport police chief Ron Malone and Carol, his wife of 56 years, lost someone close to them in the horrific Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Dec. 14, and the tragedy compelled him to visit Monroe last week.

"It's hard because a friend of my family was one of the school teachers killed in Newtown — Victoria Soto," Malone said. "It's sad. My wife and I are advocates for reasonable gun control. We have to keep guns out of the hands of people guilty of crimes and those with mental illness."

Malone, who had served as a Representative Town Meeting member in his hometown for 16 years, decided to lend his support to the Monroe Four Freedom's Project, and attended its presentation at the Edith Wheeler Memorial Library last Wednesday evening.

The Monroe Four Freedoms Project had already awarded prints of Norman Rockwell's paintings "Freedom of Speech" to Monroe Town Hall and "Freedom of Religion" to the library.

This year, Steve Ballok, an organizer of the Monroe Four Freedoms Project, chose to award a print of Rockwell's "Freedom from Fear" to the Monroe Police Department because of the school shooting at Sandy Hook.

The Monroe Four Freedoms Project also donated funds to the department's voluntary gun turn in program and its program distributing gun safety locks — things Malone could get behind.

"I'm here to celebrate with the other people," Malone said, while seated in the Ehlers Room of the library. "It's a great community. It's important art — the Four Freedoms particularly."