Slain Officers Faced Daunting Firepower Despite Connecticut’s Strict Gun Laws
Three officers were killed and 13 injured in the firefight with a gunman who was armed with a 12-gauge shotgun and was later killed by the police, according to the Associated Press.
This is a story I’ve been working on for a while for the Newtown Bee. In September 2015, Governor Ned Lamont signed the Gun Safety and Hunting License Study Act into law, which was meant to make Connecticut more gun-friendly.
It was so easy for criminals to acquire guns at no cost in Connecticut. For example, a Connecticut gun dealer sold a.38-caliber revolver to a person who shot and killed his wife and two sons over a four-month period.
As the AP notes:
The man was not legally permitted to have the weapon, but he was a convicted felon and was permitted to have it anyway under Connecticut’s assault weapons ban, which prohibits the sale of a gun that can fire more than 10 shots at once.
This loophole allowed that man from having access to weapons that were designed to kill people as a means of terrorizing communities.
The Connecticut legislature amended the law to permit dealers and private collectors to sell such guns to people “as a means of enhancing the sport hunting experience for the public.”
The state law, even though it is not perfect, was very strict on guns. Here are the changes we made:
Prohibited Weapons:
There is no legal or common-sense justification for the prohibition on carrying a handgun in the state. Connecticut now permits the carrying of concealed weapons while hunting, but only with the aid of a permit. However, it bans open carry of a handgun, even with a permit.
The law permits the open display of handguns, which means that anyone can openly store, display, and carry a handgun in a public place.
It does not, however, allow a person to openly carry a handgun in