The Connecticut General Assembly  Senate Democrats 

January 11, 2007

 

SEN. LOONEY, POLICE CHIEFS UNVEIL ANTI-GUN VIOLENCE INITIATIVE

Measures designed to give police the resources to get guns off the street

 

HARTFORD-Senate Majority Leader Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) today joined with representatives of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association and other state senators to announce an initiative to fight increasing gun violence in Connecticut's cities.

 

Sen. Looney said it is increasingly clear that the state must act. "Gun violence is a plague on our cities and results in tragic and unnecessary deaths, tearing families apart. The state must adopt measures to prevent and punish the illicit flow of guns and ammunition into the wrong hands. These proposals will provide law enforcement with the resources they need to address this problem."

 

Among the measures Sen. Looney is proposing is a version of a bill proposed last year that requires private gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms in a reasonable amount of time. The bill passed the state Senate but not the House.

 

Other proposals would:

. Require licensed dealers to report lost or stolen firearms

. Limit Connecticut residents to purchasing at most one handgun per month

. Require presentation of a handgun permit to purchase (and possess) handgun ammunition (which would also indirectly impose a state age requirement)

. Punish "straw purchases" of ammunition

. Require a license to sell ammunition (thus prohibiting the private sale of ammunition)

 

West Hartford Police Chief James Strillacci, legislative co-chair of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association, said gun violence must be addressed. "When we seize a gun at a crime scene, it's too late. We need to do more to stop gun violence and keep guns off the streets."

 

Sen. Andrea Stillman, co-chair of the legislature's Public Safety and Security Committee, said, "The solemn and undeniable truth about guns is this: they're too easy to get, they inflict severe injuries, and they provide an inherent threat of lethal force that makes them all-too-common accomplices in criminal activity. Guns are the panic buttons that when pushed make ordinary crimes violent ones and transform routine confrontations into deadly ones. We simply must limit their presence on Connecticut streets."

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Gun-theft bill back on the front burner

By Gregory B. Hladky Capitol Bureau Chief  New Haven Register

 

HARTFORD - A coalition of law enforcement officials and state lawmakers Thursday called for renewed effort to pass legislation making failure to quickly report the theft or loss of a firearm a crime in Connecticut.

 

A similar bill easily passed the state Senate last year only to be defeated by 13 votes in the House following a major lobbying push by the National Rifle Association and sportsmen's groups.

 

New Haven police Chief Francisco Ortiz Jr. said Thursday that enactment of such legislation "will save lives in New Haven and throughout the State," Law enforcement officials say people who buy guns and then resell them to criminals or trade them for drugs always claim the firearms were lost or stolen if police trace the weapons back to them.

 

Ortiz said about half of the 246 firearms his department seized in 2006 were originally purchased in Connecticut, and about half of the Connecticut illegal guns seized had never been reported as lost or stolen by their original owners.

 

State Senate Majority Leader Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, said gun deaths in Connecticut's cities all too often involve young people shooting other young people. "The problem of lost or stolen firearms is critical,” he said.

 

Looney said the group also will push for legislation handgun to prohibit purchase of more than one handgun per month and to require a person to have a legal handgun permit in order to purchase or possess handgun ammunition.

 

 Bob Crook, spokesman for the Coalition of Connecticut Sportsmen, dismissed the new gun control proposals as “the same old stuff.”

 

"It impacts the legitimate gun owner rather than impacting criminals," said Crook. He said there is "a lot of hypocrisy" among supporters of the new legislation because the legislature still hasn't properly funded the Statewide Firearms Trafficking Task Force.

 

Crook says that task force is the only proven method of dealing with the problem of illegal firearms. Instead, Crook says, lawmakers "want to do it on the cheap and hit sportsmen." According to Crook, federal attempts to regulate ammunition sales were a failure, and several states that tried legislation to restrict sales of handguns to one a month have repealed those laws.

 

But Deputy House Majority Leader Toni Walker, D-New Haven, predicted the bill on reporting lost or stolen firearms will pass the House this year. "1 believe the will is there this year, "she said.

 

Walker said there is strong House support for the legislation and state House Speaker James A. Amman, D-Milford, won't try to defeat the bill, despite his vote against the measure last year.

 

New Bill Would Tighten Gun Rules

 

Measure Would Require Prompt Reporting Of Gun Thefts
January 12, 2007  By COLIN POITRAS, Courant Staff Writer

 

A coalition of legislators and law enforcement officials Thursday called for the mandatory reporting of lost or stolen firearms and stricter laws for purchasing ammunition, resurrecting a bill that failed in the House of Representatives last year.

Senate Majority Leader Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, said gun violence "is a plague on our cities" that has resulted in tragic and unnecessary deaths and torn families apart.

 Looney said he intends to propose legislation that will require private gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms "in a reasonable amount of time." In California, gun owners must file a missing firearm report within 48 hours of the time an owner realizes it is missing.

A similar bill on missing guns passed the Senate last year, but not the House, where it was voted down at the end of the session by a vote of 79 to 66.

Looney's bill would limit Connecticut citizens to purchasing one handgun per month; require possession of a state handgun permit to purchase handgun ammunition and require retailers to hold a state license to sell ammunition.

Looney was joined by other legislators including Rep. William M. Tong, D-Stamford, who said he had personal experience with threatened gun violence. His mother was robbed at the family's store in Manchester three years ago by a robber who implied he had a gun. The assailant actually had a knife, Tong said, and his mother was stabbed repeatedly but survived.

It is not just the possession of guns, but the threat of guns that affects people in Connecticut, "including my family," Tong said.

New Haven Police Chief Francisco Ortiz, who has seen the number of firearm-related homicides in his city jump from nine in 2005 to 22 in 2006, also spoke in favor of the legislation. Ortiz said getting illegal guns off the streets will go a long way toward reducing gun violence.

At least one high-ranking legislator was uncertain about the bill's effectiveness.

House Speaker James Amann, D-Milford, questioned the merits of the bill but said - as in the previous session - he would not use his powers as speaker to prevent the bill from being debated. He drew a sharp distinction between law-abiding citizens and "wannabe gang-bangers" who repeatedly disobey the law.

"The legal owner is going to report his gun stolen," Amann said Thursday. "Why paint everybody with the same brush? This feel-good stuff that we've been dealing with since I've been here for 18 years has resolved nothing."

He added, "If the majority wants to debate this bill, we will debate it."

http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-ctgunbill0112.artjan12,0,660219.story?coll=hc-headlines-politics-state

 

Bill would punish owners for guns not reported in timely manner

Posted Jan. 11, 2007

(Hartford-AP) _ State lawmakers are resurrecting legislation that would punish gun owners who don't report lost or stolen firearms in a timely manner.

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives last year defeated a similar proposal that would have established a $500 penalty for anyone who didn't report a lost or stolen gun within 72 hours of discovering it was missing.

Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney of New Haven says stolen guns often end up in the hands of criminals.

Robert Crook, president of the Coalition of Connecticut Sportsmen, said innocent gun owners could be penalized by the legislation. He cited as an example an owner whose guns were stolen while he was on vacation and may not think to check on them.

If officers pick up such weapons before the guns are reported stolen or missing, the owner could face a felony charge under the old bill, Crook said. A final draft of details in the latest version has not been completed. http://wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=5928167

A collection of briefs from the Capitol Jan 11, 6:43 PM EST

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- State lawmakers are resurrecting legislation that would punish gun owners who don't report lost or stolen firearms in a timely manner.

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives last year defeated a similar proposal that would have established a $500 penalty for anyone who didn't report a lost or stolen gun within 72 hours of discovering it was missing.

Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney, D-New Haven, said stolen guns often end up in the hands of criminals.

"Providing a requirement that lost or stolen guns be reported, I think, that is going to be a key lynchpin to what we hope to do," he said.

New Haven had 24 homicides last year, 22 involving guns.

Robert Crook, president of the Coalition of Connecticut Sportsmen, said innocent gun owners could be harmed by the legislation. He cited as an example an owner whose guns were stolen while he was on vacation and may not think to check on them.

If officers pick up such weapons before the guns are reported stolen or missing, the owner could face a felony charge under the old bill, Crook said. A final draft of details in the latest version has not been completed.

Crook said authorities don't know the source of guns used in crimes, and that lawmakers should fund a gun trafficking task force established in 2000.

Looney also proposed limiting handgun purchases to one a month and requiring the presentation of a handgun permit to buy ammunition.