Connecticut Senate Democrat leaders held a press conference to mark the first anniversary of newly enacted gun legislation that limited the number of handguns residents can purchase, banned open carry of firearms, and implemented stricter firearm storage laws, using the opportunity to take some political shots at Republicans who opposed the bill ahead of the election in November.
Senate Democrat leaders Martin Looney, D-New Haven, and Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, were joined by Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, Derek Slap, D-West Hartford, Ceci Maher, D-Westport, and MD Rahman, D-Manchester, who took turns celebrating passage of the law, recounting the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and warning voters that Republicans oppose such restrictions.
“It’s something we had to do over Republican objection many times, they try to present themselves as moderates on a variety of issues when they go home to their districts, but often they are very here at the capitol,” Looney said.
Sen. Duff noted that Senate Republicans attempted to filibuster the legislation until 4:30 in the morning, filing multiple amendments that would have “weakened” the legislation.
“We knew that it might be a long night, but this caucus decided to take the time to endure a Republican filibuster that went from about nine o’clock at night, eight o’clock at night, all the way to four in the morning,” Duff said. “Connecticut is considered the fourth safest state in the nation and that is not by accident. It’s because of a lot of the criminal justice reform we’ve done, and it’s because of the fact of some of these gun laws we’ve passed as well.”
“It also highlights what is at stake for when we come back, for those of us who are fortunate enough to be re-elected and come back here in just a few months. There is so much at stake this November,” Slap said. “Do Democrats want to talk about public safety? Damn right we want to talk about public safety because this legislation is about saving lives,” Slap said.
Although Connecticut and the rest of the country saw a post-pandemic increase in crime – both property and violent crime – the numbers have since been ticking downward. While state Republicans had previously made crime a campaign issue, it appears to be less so this campaign season as electric rates, inflation, and the cost of living have emerged as key political points.
Senate Republican Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, said in a statement that “Democrats are playing politics,” with an election only weeks away.
“Republicans have consistently been the Party of Public Safety, while Connecticut Democrats provide lip service when addressing actual gun crime in our urban and poverty-stricken areas,” Harding said. “It speaks volumes that Connecticut Democrats are avoiding talking about lowering our electric bills, reducing the cost of groceries and lowering insurance rates.”
Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, who led the attempted filibuster against HB 6667 says that crime is still a concern for his constituents and faults Democrats for continually eroding public safety – erasure of criminal records, “letting felons out early, and the police accountability bill, among others — while passing bills that might sound good, but don’t reduce crime.
“They’re the real extremists,” Sampson said. “There’s nothing in HB 6667 that’s going to dimmish the likelihood of any gun violence whatsoever. The fact of the matter is Connecticut Democrats are the party that is undermining law and order in our criminal justice system with many of the acts that they take in the legislature.”
“Almost every year there’s a new law that basically disassembles our criminal justice system and leads to more crime and we’re experiencing that all across the state, even though they want to deny that,” Sampson said. “If you talk to any police chiefs, they’ll tell you that crime is absolutely up. And I hold them [Democrats] accountable for that. They are making an environment where lawlessness is on the rise.”
Senate Democrats pointed to data from Giffords Law Center, a national nonprofit dedicated to reducing gun violence, showing bulk gun purchases “are as much as 64 percent more likely to be used in a crime than a gun purchased on its own,” and pointed to support from the Connecticut Office of the Chief State’s Attorney for the ban on open carry of firearms.
Sen. Looney says Republicans in key swing districts involved in tight races try to paint themselves as “moderate,” but then vote with their caucus against legislation like HB 6667, or for amendments that would water down the bill: “They’re aware that their districts are more moderate than their parties are.”
Sen. Looney says that he hopes to double down on the legislation by increasing the number of handguns that can be purchased in a month from three to one in the next session.
“I would certainly like to reduce the number of allowable gun purchases from three per month that we have in the bill to one per month, I think that’s a reasonable goal for 2025,” Looney said.
“Connecticut Republicans will continue to stand for reasonable, common sense policies which make our communities safer. Democrats will continue to posture and play political games,” Harding said.
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That law would do nothing to prevent another Sandy Hook.
Pure political posturing, and IMO that law is likely unconstitutional.