A new gun control law described by the Associated Press as Connecticut’s “most wide-ranging gun control measure since the 2013 law enacted after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting” took effect Sunday, and the President Pro Tempore of the state Senate indicated there is more to come.
The report quoted Sen. Martin Loomey (D-New Haven) calling it a “very significant initiative,” and quickly adding, “the battle is not over.”
Democrat lawmakers in the Constitution State have been working for the past ten years to further restrict gun rights since the Sandy Hook attack. This new measure prohibits open carry of firearms and the sale of more than three handguns in any 30-day period to the same person.
The Connecticut Citizens Defense League is holding its monthly members’ meeting Tuesday, Oct. 10 in New Britain, 7-9 p.m., and these new restrictions will likely be on the agenda. CCDL held a gun rights rally last Saturday at the state capitol to protest the new laws, described by the CT News Junkie as “gun safety policies.”
The Associated Press report noted that CCDL President Holly Sullivan, who was just elected to the Board of Directors at the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and who appeared at the recent Gun Rights Policy Conference, said there were already state laws addressing the issue of illegally carrying firearms in public.
According to Yahoo News, the restrictions also include a requirement to provide a trigger lock on all guns sold, and registration of so-called “unserialized ghost guns,” and increased penalties for failing to report stolen firearms.
Proponents of the new restrictions have claimed their gun-owning constituents do not have any problems with the laws. The Associated Press acknowledged in its report that Connecticut has “some of the strictest gun laws in the country.”
Gun rights activists are hopeful the law will be struck down by the courts.
Connecticut is already locked in legal battles over its gun control laws. But Gov. Ned Lamont believes the state is on the right course, and the head of the Connecticut Against Gun Violence is quoted by the AP stating his group “will not take a break” from its crusade to pass stricter gun laws.
