Court orders AG to reinstate car wash owner's concealed-weapon permit. Here's why.

PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island Supreme Court has sided with the owner of a car wash and auto repair shop fighting to regain his revoked permit to carry a concealed weapon.

In a decision written by Justice Melissa Long, the high court ordered Attorney General Peter Neronha's office to renew Peter Montaquila's concealed-carry permit, despite his failure to disclose, in his application to renew the permit, a documented incident in which he "pulled a black gun from his waistband and pointed it at [a] man’s head."

"Without any other evidence or rationale justifying the denial, Mr. Montaquila’s omission is, at best, mere scintilla," the court said in its ruling.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice William Robinson begged to differ.

"The fact that Mr. Montaquila’s letter [seeking renewal of his revoked permit] omitted an important and material fact relative to what occurred on October 28, 2020 .... was far more than a scintilla," he wrote.

"The fact that the incident report indicated that Mr. Montaquila had “brandished” his firearm ... [was] more than enough of a reasonable basis upon which the attorney general could make his discretionary decision not to approve Mr. Montaquila’s application," Robinson wrote.

"Although we respectfully disagree with the court’s decision in this matter, we will of course follow the court’s mandate and issue the concealed carry permit to Mr. Montaquila as the court directed us to do," the attorney general's office said in a statement. "This office’s primary responsibility is to ensure that when we issue concealed carry permits, we do so after a full and thorough review of the applicant’s background to ensure the safety of the community. We will continue to carry out that important mission in accordance with the laws of this state and the Constitution."

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Background on the case

The case centered on what a police incident report revealed about that 2020 incident at Finest Car Wash & Auto Repair in Providence and whether the attorney general's office was legally permitted to rely on it.

Here's what happened, according to the court's summary of events:

On Oct. 28, 2020, Providence police officers arrested Montaquila for "misdemeanor simple assault after an incident involving his firearm at his place of business. The [police] seized the firearm and three days later, based on this charge, the attorney general revoked his license to carry concealed weapons."

On Nov. 2, 2020, Montaquila applied to renew his concealed-carry license which was set to expire, in any event, on Dec. 30, 2020. The application form asked if he had "ever been arrested or charged for any offense.' Montaquila marked both the “yes” and “no” boxes and wrote 'see letter attached'.”

In that letter, Montaquila gave this description of what happened: A "gentleman came into my business, which is a gas station and auto detailing facility[,] and became immediately combative and aggressive toward my staff because they would not perform certain work for free. He was clearly under the influence of drugs at the time. He began to throw items off the desk and act very threatening in my store."

"I told the gentleman he would have to leave the premises, and at that time he got very close to my face and shoved me away. At that point, I put my arms around his shoulders and walked him out the door. At no point did I strike, hit or assault this person.

“The man then called the Providence police, falsely reported that I assaulted him without reason, and I was arrested.”

The charges against Montaquila were eventually dismissed, and the record of the incident sealed. But before that happened, the attorney general's office obtained the police incident report reflecting what the two men told police.

As summarized by the court: "The man who called the police told them that after [Montaquila] pulled him out of the store, [Montaquila] pulled a black gun from his waistband and pointed it at the man’s head."

Montaquila's explanation: "He brandished his firearm because he feared the other man was attempting to retrieve a weapon from his car."

The essence of Montaquila's legal argument: "The attorney general improperly relied on a document that should have been destroyed, and that the attorney general otherwise lacked legally competent evidence to support the denial of his application."

The attorney general's office argued It did not rely on a sealed document, as Montaquila acknowledged the circumstances surrounding his arrest and the attorney general has "broad discretion" to consider whether ... Montaquila "engaged in unlawful, dangerous or violent conduct that justified denying his application."

In their ruling, the majority on the court said: "We are unpersuaded by the arguments of the attorney general ... First, the denial letter, dated more than sixty days after the dismissal of the assault charge, clearly relies on the incident report. The omission of the word 'brandished' in describing the incident is not legally competent evidence to support the denial."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Concealed-weapons permit of RI man to be reinstated after it was denied