Around 30 members of the community, including Deputy Doug Maya and Sgt. Scott Taylor, gathered to discuss issues of concern on the island, such as gun safety, speeding cars, bicyclists breaking rules and mental health concerns.

The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office and Undersheriff Bruce Distler hosted the forum at the Orcas Senior Center on Tuesday.

“We are trying to keep the community alive and actively engaged and talking to each other,” Distler said.

At the start of the meeting, the undersheriff passed around gun locks to distribute to the audience.

“These are meant to make the weapon inoperable for children in the house,” he said.

Distler said this subject is a hot topic in counties across the country. He told the audience that firearms do not have to be registered with the Sheriff’s Department but firearms are registered in a database once they are purchased.

As for how many guns are in the islands, Distler said because they don’t collect gun registrations there is no way to tell the exact number, but according to the Department of Licensing there are 981 concealed pistol licenses in San Juan County.

Distler said this number is not cause for concern to law enforcement because to register for these permits a person has to undergo federal background checks and the licenses can be revoked at any time.

Other questions throughout the evening focused more on the road.

One woman voiced her worry about drivers speeding in Moran State Park, especially in areas where pedestrians frequent.

“If you’re looking for a place to write tickets, this may be the place,” she said.

Distler said he wanted to make sure the community is driving correctly, but also urged citizens to call him if they see any deputies not following the same rules.

Morgan Meadows asked if the Sheriff’s Department was going to teach any bike safety classes at the school. Distler said they would be available to help facilitate a course if the school was interested.

Another citizen wanted to see the department release a official report on the rights of bicyclists. Distler said they have pamphlets about the issue and would consider having more produced for the ferry and other public venues.

“We, as islanders, need to lead the behavior modeling,” he said about how people should interact on the road.

Another issue raised at the meeting was mental illness and how it affects people on the island. Distler said he would like to delve more into that subject in the next meeting hosted by the Sheriff’s Department.

“We’re planning on having more meetings,” said Distler. “We want to know what we can do to make things better.”