Open carry criminalized in Connecticut. Gun advocates vow to continue fight

Gun rights advocates were set to rally at the Connecticut State Capitol Saturday to celebrate the “legacy that open carry has left in Connecticut” on the eve of its criminalization.

The Connecticut Citizens Defense League “WE WILL CARRY ON” rally came the day before the launch of the state’s most sweeping gun control measure since the Sandy Hook tragedy in 2012.

The legislation bans the open carry of firearms in public, with exceptions for specific occupations and use during training or hunting activities and on property that is the gun owner’s home, land or place of business.

It also limits handgun purchases to three per person per month, requires trigger locks on all firearms sold, closes loopholes in the state’s assault weapon ban, requires registration of unserialized “ghost guns,” increases penalties for failing to report a stolen firearm and tightens the conditions for bail, probation and parole of repeat firearm offenders, among other measures.

State Rep. Steven Stafstrom, who pushed the bill through the House as the chair of the Judiciary Committee, singled out the tightening of the assault weapons ban and increasing the enforceability of ghost gun laws as key.

“I think those two provisions in particular will really get at the heart of many of the crimes we see committed on our streets, in particular, in our cities,” Stafstrom said.

But CCDL President Holly Sullivan said “the governor and his administration missed the mark.”

“There was a huge opportunity this legislative session to enact real change for the crimes that are being committed in our state. But that’s simply not where they focus their efforts and energy,” Sullivan said. “They focused by and large on law-abiding gun owners and the firearms that they already possessed.”

“We’re in a situation where the governor and his party focus again on what is truly gun control, not dealing with crimes that are rampant in this state,” Sullivan added.

In response to similar comments, Lamont at a press conference Thursday called Sullivan is “dead wrong.”

“I don’t think CCDL is very serious about taking care of keeping our streets safe and getting those illegal guns off the street,” Lamont said. “Open carry is about saying it’s illegal to carry those guns on the street. It’s our opportunity to see whether those ghost guns, which are unmarked and meant to kill, (if) we can get them off the street. I’m not doing anything about lawful gun owners, but I’m trying to be very strict, get those illegal guns off the street and those that are more likely to repeat a crime like that, get them off the street as well.”

Sullivan challenged the idea that gun control makes Connecticut streets safer.

“The governor and his administration continue to say that we are one of the safest states in the country because of our gun control laws,” Sullivan said. “We have always been one of the safest states in the country. … And that is not to be conflated that it’s due to our gun control.”

“We have the highest homicide rate in New England,” Sullivan added. “We have states in New England that don’t even require a permit to carry, they’re constitutional carry states, and we have higher homicide rates than they do.”

Connecticut is sixth in the nation for the lowest firearm mortality. With a rate of 6.7 deaths per 100,000 individuals, Connecticut is ranked below its northeastern neighbors of Massachusetts (3.4), New Jersey (5.2), New York (5.4) and Rhode Island (5.6), according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Connecticut ranks 13th in the nation for the lowest homicide rate, ranking below all other New England states, according to the CDC.

Sullivan said the CCDL and gun rights advocates are challenging provisions of the new law, in addition to existing statute in the court case Grant v. Lamont.

In terms of the legal challenge, Stafstrom said the gun control law “is clearly defensible.”

“Connecticut has had a very good track record of beating back challenges by those who seek to make our streets less safe and I’m fully expecting that we will be similarly successful in defending this law,” Stafstrom said.

Just as this was not the first gun control package, Stafstrom said the new law will not be the last.

“There’s the issue of bump stocks and trigger locks, and also just changes to the way gun manufacturers have tried to get around the assault weapons ban,” Stafstrom said. “We are going to be in (this) situation unless, and until, there is major federal action of having to constantly update our laws to keep pace with ways the gun manufacturers are attempting to skirt or avoid our laws.”