Governor, Attorney General decry request by gun rights group to repeal Connecticut’s assault weapon ban

The National Association for Gun Rights asked a federal judge to immediately repeal Connecticut’s assault weapon ban while the battle over the constitutionality of Connecticut’s gun laws plays out in court — a move that Connecticut Attorney General William Tong called “incredibly dangerous.”

Tong and Gov. Ned Lamont briefed reporters on the recent actions by the gun-rights advocacy group at a press conference at the state Capitol Friday afternoon. The pair denounced the NAGR and attempts to overturn the state’s 2013 bipartisan assault weapon and magazine ban.

Lawyers representing the NAGR and a Granby resident argue in a motion for a preliminary injunction, filed with the U.S. District Court in New Haven, that Connecticut’s ban is at odds with the Second Amendment. They contend that the precedent established in the landmark 2008 U.S. Supreme Court case District of Columbia v. Heller “protects the right of law-abiding citizens to own weapons in common use by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes.”

Under this argument, the NAGR’s lawyers find Connecticut’s law unconstitutional because the semi-automatic firearms and high-capacity magazines banned in 2013 “are held by millions of law-abiding American citizens for lawful purposes.”

Tong and Lamont disagreed, saying the constitutionality and legality of Connecticut’s laws are air-tight.

“I am very confident that our laws are constitutional and defensible,” Tong said. “I’m confident that we will prevail, [but] this is a very dangerous maneuver by the plaintiffs. It’s very dangerous because as I said, when you seek a preliminary injunction, you’re asking the court to immediately step in and change the status quo.”

Tong said that it is not known when a judge will rule on the plaintiff’s request.

“It won’t happen today, but there is a very real risk that it could happen soon and that they will seek to completely invalidate that law and put these weapons back on the street,” Tong said.

The lawsuit, first filed on Sept. 6, started out on rocky footing when its initial litigant, an 84-year-old woman from New Milford, and one of its lawyers pulled out from the case. After the departure, Toni Theresa Spera Flanigan of Granby filled the spot required to continue the case in Connecticut.

Tong and the governor spoke against the outside organizations seeking litigation in the state.

“Nothing is more unwelcome and offensive than radical extremists coming from outside of Connecticut, using our courts to try to attack Connecticut’s gun laws, which we decided that we need here in Connecticut to keep our families safe,” Tong said. “We reject these efforts by people from outside of Connecticut trying to come in and tell us what to do, and the governor and I will push back very hard on it.”

The NAGR’s fight in Connecticut is part of a string of 10 federal suits filed by the advocacy group after the USSC State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen ruling. The litigation targets five of the nation’s 13 circuits with the intent to establish new legal precedent in 25 states and Hawaii.

Connecticut faces a second legal battle — a Sept. 29 lawsuit, filed by the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, the Second Amendment Foundation, and three Connecticut residents, also seeks to challenge the constitutionality of the state’s weapons ban.

Tong said the Bruen ruling, which struck down a New York handgun licensing law, does not impact Connecticut’s law.

“Bruen does not stand for the proposition that bans on assault weapons like the one in Connecticut are unconstitutional. Bruen stands for quite the contrary. It does not decide anything about the kinds of weapons that people may possess,” Tong said.

Tong said it is unknown when the judge will rule on the NAGR’s motion for a preliminary injunction.

“It won’t happen today, but there is a very real risk that it could happen soon,” Tong said.