What if that person carrying gun is outside a daycare center?

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“What if that person carrying a firearm is outside a daycare? What do I tell the parents who have to come pick up their kids?” –  Police Chief Paul Melanson, Farmington, CT

A public hearing will take place Wednesday, March 15 in Hartford for two gun bills being considered by the Judiciary Committee. One will improve gun safety in Connecticut, the other will not. We must let Judiciary Committee members know where we stand by showing up and making our voices heard.

Whether you testify or just come to show citizen support, your presence is extremely important to get H.B. 6200, open carry permit display, voted favorably out of Committee and to block the concealed carry reciprocity bill, making it die in Committee. Click here to complete this brief form to let us know you will attend the hearing and make sure you get all the details you need.

There are several ways you can support our gun-sense agenda:

  • Attend the public hearing at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford on March 15, beginning at 10am. We’re also planning an exciting visibility event beforehand to get media attention.
  • Contact your local chief of police to ask him/her to sign our letter in support of H.B. 6200. A large number of signatures will make a strong statement to the Committee.

Your presence sends a message to the Committee that the public cares and is paying attention. It can be the deciding factor influencing Committee members to vote for (or against) the bills. Legislators are less likely to expend political capital when the public isn’t behind the bill. The NRA is already activating its Connecticut base; you can be sure they will turn out in force.

 

Testimony will be taken on two gun bills at the public hearing on March 15

CAGV SUPPORTS H.B. 6200, Presentation of a Carry Permit. When an individual is openly carrying a gun in public, he should be required to show the permit on request of a police officer.

But current statute only allows law enforcement to request to see the permit if there is  “reasonable suspicion of a crime,” even though the individual is required to have the permit on his person. The bill would require a person open carrying a handgun in public to produce their CT permit when requested by law enforcement so the officer can confirm that the person is legally allowed to carry and not a threat to public safety or the officers themselves.

When police respond to reports of a person with a gun they can’t assume the individual is simply “exercising his rights.” They must consider the individual a potential threat until they can assess the situation. Their duty to protect the public is compromised when they don’t have the authority to quickly and easily determine whether the individual is legally allowed to carry a firearm in public.

The proposed bill gives law enforcement the authority they need to assure public safety and diffuse situations that the general public finds threatening, while respecting the Second Amendment rights of gun owners.
CAGV OPPOSES the bill, Permit & Certificate to Carry a Firearm Reciprocity, that would allow holders of other states’ permits “with similar standards” to conceal carry weapons in Connecticut. The standards have not been specified; we cannot risk allowing gun owners to come in from states where we have no oversight of gun permitting. Very important, without national standards for gun permits and 24/7 access to out-of-state permit information, law enforcement would have no way to verify whether the permit was valid and whether the gun owner is carrying legally.