by Christian Wade
Connecticut lawmakers are advancing Gov. Ned Lamont’s proposal to close “loopholes” in the state’s gun control laws in response to a spate of mass shootings nationwide.
The legislation, which is teed up for a vote in the state Legislature, would tighten the state’s ban on “ghost” guns, increase the minimum age to buy a firearm to 21, prohibit open carry in public, ban the bulk purchase of handguns and expand the state’s restriction on large-capacity firearm magazines, among other changes.
The proposal, which was approved by the Judiciary Committee last week, must still be approved by the state Assembly and Senate before heading back to Lamont for consideration.
Lamont praised lawmakers for advancing the legislation, which he said would provide “a fair, commonsense balance that respects the rights of Americans to own guns for their own protection and sportsmanship while also acknowledging that we must take actions to protect the people who live in our communities.”
“Our public safety laws need to keep up with the innovative ways firearm companies are manufacturing guns, especially those that were invented with nothing but the sole purpose of killing as many people as possible within the shortest amount of time,” the Democrat said in a statement.
Debate over Lamont’s proposal has divided the Legislature along partisan lines with Democrats pushing for the changes, citing recent mass shootings, and Republicans opposing them, arguing the changes would deprive law-abiding gun owners of their rights and won’t prevent mass shootings.
“This bill is not about closing loopholes,” Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, said in remarks opposing the legislation. “This bill is about infringing on the rights of the people that we represent to defend themselves.”
Connecticut’s assault weapons ban, which was originally approved 1994, was updated in 2013 in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, when a lone gunman killed 20 children and six educators.
The state is still embroiled in a legal challenge from Second Amendment groups over the ban, filed last year, seeking to overturn a prohibition on what they call “modern sporting arms,” such as AR-15 long rifles.
The lawsuits were filed in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the N.Y. State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen case, which struck down a New York law requiring applicants to show “proper cause” to get a permit to carry a firearm.
Lamont’s proposal would update the law to end an exemption for weapons made prior to 1994, which were originally grandfathered in under the update to the assault weapons ban, and add rimfire rifles to the state’s military-style weapons ban.
The Judiciary Committee received hundreds of comments from opponents of Lamont’s plan, criticizing the proposed rules as unconstitutional and urging lawmakers to reject them.
In Congress, Connecticut’s U.S. Senators, Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, both Democrats, filed legislation in January to re-impose the federal assault weapons ban that expired in 2004. But the proposal faces an uphill fight in a divided Congress, where Republicans oppose gun control measures.
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Christian Wade is a contributor to The Center Square.
Photo “Ned Lamont” by Office of Governor Ned Lamont. Background Photo “Connecticut State Capitol” by Mamata.mulay. CC BY-SA 3.0.
