Gun rights activists love to proclaim that SB 1160, the comprehensive CT Gun Violence Prevention bill we passed in 2013, signed by Governor Malloy, “doesn’t do a thing” to stop gun violence or prevent another Newtown from happening.

A Fairfield man was recently convicted of illegal possession of an AR-15 rifle, banned by the new law. The weapon was found in his car on the campus of the University of New Haven, where he was a student. Clippings of the Aurora Colorado shootings were found at his home.

We know that SB 1160 is a smart gun law and we also know that smart gun laws save lives. We also know that, in the year since the new law was signed:

• 50,242 assault weapon certifications have been received and 38,209 gun owners filed declarations listing the number and type of large capacity magazines they owned.
• The state has also issued 2,592 ammunition certificates and received 61 eligibility certificates for long guns.
• 1,747 pistol permits were revoked.
• 210 people tried to buy rifles and shotguns and were denied when background checks turned up felony convictions, undocumented alien status and domestic violence charges.

Here is more information on the mass shooting tragedy that may very well have been avoided because of our ban on assault weapons.

Fairfield Man Pleads Guilty To Taking Guns To University Of New Haven

by Daily VoicePolice & Fire10/17/14

FAIRFIELD, Conn. — A Fairfield man who was charged with taking loaded guns to the University of New Haven last winter and causing a lockdown has pleaded guilty, according to NBC Connecticut.

William Dong, 23, pleaded guilty on Friday and will serve at least two years in prison, NBC Connecticut reported.

On Dec. 3, 2013, Dong was arrested near the University of New Haven campus in West Haven after he was found in personal possession of two loaded handguns and a loaded Bushmaster rifle, which was seized from his nearby car.

A witness noticed the stock of a rifle in Dong’s vehicle and called police after seeing him run toward campus, which was placed on lockdown. Dong, a commuter student who lived in Fairfield, was apprehended after walking out of a class.

A police search of his home on Stratfield Road in Fairfield turned up 2,700 rounds of ammunition and a collection of clippings about the deadly 2012 shootings at a theater in Aurora, Colo.

“Today’s guilty plea brings an end to a potential tragedy that was prevented due to Connecticut’s new gun safety laws,” Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said in a statement. “This individual imported a newly banned assault weapon into the state in violation of the new law. His weapon was a Bushmaster AR-15.

“Without the assistance of a citizen who saw something and said something, without the restrictions in the new gun law, and without the quick action of first responders at the University of New Haven and at the West Haven Police Department, Dec. 3, 2013, might have been another tragic day in Connecticut’s history.”

Dong pleaded guilty to one count of illegal sale and transfer of an assault weapon and two counts of illegal possession of a pistol in court Friday, NBC Connecticut reported.

Dong was sentenced to eight years in prison, and will serve a minimum of two years before the sentence can be suspended, NBC said. He will also serve five years of probation and will be required to register with the deadly weapon offender registry.

Read the full story here at the NBC Connecticut website.