Connecticut Gun Control Law Sparks Lawsuit By Firearms Group

A new Connecticut gun control law spurred long lines as residents rushed to register their semi-automatic weapons and high capacity magazines. The Gun Violence and Children’s Safety Act went into effect on January 1. The law requires all residents to register any firearm that the state now considers a “assault weapons” before the beginning of 2014.

The Gun Violence Prevention and Children’s Safety Act was signed into law on April 4. Firearms banned in the law include the extremely popular AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, according to NBC Connecticut. Anyone caught with a so-called assault weapon after January 1 could face a mandatory minimum one-year prison sentence and face felony charges. The Connecticut Governor’s Criminal Policy Liaison Michael Lawlor that there are a few exception to the penalties associated with the gun control law, which reportedly applies equally to both current and future state residents. “You can either surrender the weapon to us, destroy the weapon, or sell it to a federal firearms licensee. After that date (January 1) that hasn’t been declared or register is banned and if you get caught, you’re going to get arrested,” Lawlor added.

Connecticut recently became the fourth state to require citizens garner a license before purchasing ammunition, according to a report by Off The Grid News. New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Illinois are also implementing a similar law which many feel infringes upon Second Amendment rights. The highly controversial Connecticut high capacity magazine and “assault weapons” law was penned near the end of 2012 after the Sandy Hook Elementary tragic school shooting. Local news station WFSB Channel 13 spoke with many of the folks waiting in line to register their firearms, none of whom felt the new gun control law would reduce violent crime or prevent another school shooting.

Gun owner Scott Boccio had this to say to local reporters while he was waiting in the registration line at the Public Safety Building in Middletown:

“I understand why they’re doing it, but I don’t think it’s Constitutional. If they were trying to make them illegal, I’d have a real issue, but if they want to just know where they are, that’s fine with me. Unless you change everything and make it [USA] England and take everything away, I don’t see how they’re going to stop it.”

Boccio’s statements were a lost kinder than the utterances by many gun owners also waiting in the massive line. Jared Krajewski stated what most readers are likely already thinking. “If people are going to do things illegally, they’re not going to be here registering their gun,” the Connecticut man said.

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The Gun Violence Prevention and Children’s Safety Act law also considers any magazine which can hold 10 or more bullets a high capacity magazine. The supposed premise behind this aspect of the Connecticut gun control law revolves around the flawed mindset that limiting magazine size will save lives and prevent another tragic school, mall, or public space shooting. As one county sheriff noted during his now viral video, even a novice shooter can empty, reload, and empty again a 5 round magazine before anyone can get closes enough to the gunman to prevent to prevent the squeezing of the trigger another time.

The Connecticut Citizens Defense League (CCDL) is part of a lawsuit seeking a reversal of the gun control law. Organization president Scott Wilson opposes the high capacity magazine and assault weapon ban, but has urged his fellow citizens to abide by the legislation until the matter is settled in court. Any resident who purchased a high capacity magazine or banned firearm after the signing of the bill into law in April bought items already considered illegal to own, despite the registration deadline.

CCDL President Wilson had this to say about the new gun control law:

“There are going to be a lot of people on January 1st that will wake up and unknowingly be felons by the definition of the law. We want to make sure that people get this message loud and clear because we’re law abiding gun owners and we don’t want to give the other side any ammunition to use against us.”

Do you think banning AR-15 semi-automatic rifles along with other “assault weapons” and high capacity magazines infringes upon the Second Amendment?