Navy veteran takes on Saipan's restriction on handguns

A Navy veteran and his wife are challenging a ban on handguns in Saipan, arguing in federal court that the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands is bound by the U.S. Constitutions Second Amendment.

Ive always been a firm believer in our constitutional rights, whether thats freedom of speech, religion or the right to keep and bear arms or right to privacy, and Im pretty sure that what Im doing in this case is in defense of those convictions, said David J. Radich, 44, a former petty officer third class.

His wife, Li-Rong Radich, was severely beaten by an intruder in 2010, a trauma that her husband says might have been prevented if she had a handgun.

While the islands citizens can receive permits for a select few long guns, the law prevents them from possessing those for self-defense, even at home. Regulation of handguns varies in the four other inhabited U.S. territories. With differing degrees of regulation, they are allowed in Americas only other commonwealth territory, Puerto Rico, as well as in Guam and the Virgin Islands, but handguns are banned in American Samoa.

Born in California, Radich, a former boatswains mate, served aboard the USS Vandegrift, a guided-missile frigate that participated in Operation Desert Shields Maritime Interception Operations in 1990. After a ships rope crushed his right hand, Radich lost his pinky and required extensive physical therapy. Although he was subsequently found fit for duty, he left the Navy in 1993 and enrolled in college, earning a degree in history and education. He taught school in the Detroit area.

Radich said he became comfortable around handguns after a doctor suggested that holding and firing one would be therapeutic for his hand. He bought one and used it for target practice.

Radich said he eventually wearied of the cold weather and general decay of Detroit and in 2006 took a job teaching earth science to seventh- and eighth-graders in Tinian, a sparsely populated island near Saipan thats part of the Northern Marianas. He took a job as an environmental consultant on Saipan in June 2008.

Shortly thereafter, he met Li-Rong and they were soon married.

About 45 minutes after he arrived at work one morning in 2010, his wife called, sobbing, saying shed been attacked. Radich called 911 and rushed home.

I found my wife on the floor of the apartment in really bad shape, Radich said. Her face was unrecognizable.

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Navy veteran takes on Saipan's restriction on handguns