New Connecticut firearm legislation around the corner?

Don’t panic. Although the Connecticut State Legislature is always “discussing” new legislation, to my knowledge no “real” bills are actually in the pipeline. That said, members of the legislature have meetings and discuss ideas, and this year – like every other year – gun laws are being discussed.

The NRA sent out an e-mail “alert” last night concerning a committee meeting being held today in Connecticut. Although the e-mail states a “high-capacity” magazine bill will be discussed, there is no real bill yet.

To clarify, I don’t really call proposed bill 6078 a real bill since it is worded so poorly it would have to be trashed and rewritten by someone with at least a 4th grade education level. (See update below.)

What can you do? We’ll here’s what I did. I took a few minutes to send an e-mail to members of the Joint Committee on Judiciary, who the NRA referred to in their e-mail. I’d love to get some responses and questions, but I really don’t expect any. You could also attend meetings – today’s starts at 11 a.m. in Room 2B of the Legislative Office Building.

I think my e-mail is short and to the point. Of course, I could go into all sorts of arguments and the need for permits themselves, but I think this works for now.

If you have not read the posts linked below, you should. Then you should send them to everyone you know!

[Members of the Joint Committee on Judiciary],
Please take a few minutes to read the following articles concerning what I refer to as “feel good” gun legislation prior to any discussion concerning additional firearm regulation at the state level. I think you will find them informative, and look forward to any questions you may have.

• Ten rounds in a magazine may not be enough
• Mexican president and Congress display ignorance on assault weapon ban (Specific example refers to Connecticut’s “feel good” ban)
• Yes, you can open carry a pistol in Connecticut
• Connecticut should not make pistol permit information available to the public
• Huge spike in firearm sales results in … less crime

Instead of creating new gun restriction legislation during this legislative cycle, may I suggest Connecticut take the steps to reach out to other states and work out reciprocity agreements for law-abiding citizens who have pistol permits?

Regards,
Steve M.

Update: Let me clarify about my “no real bills” comment. Any member can submit a short abstract description of proposed legislation. That does not mean it’s even been discussed at the committee level. All sorts of proposed legislation is submitted and gets a number every year, and many of them go no further and are never even discussed.

Instead of being concerned with all of these bills at the state and federal level, I prefer to discuss and support/oppose legislation that will actually be voted on at the committee level and have real legislative language instead of just an abstract proposal.