Posted on 03/15/2013 8:48:17 AM PDT by EXCH54FE
Several hours into the General Assembly's first hearing on proposed gun control bills at the state Capitol Thursday, state Sen. Joan Hartley turned to a gun industry representative and asked what gun-control measures he could live with.
Stiffer penalties for gun trafficking, a crackdown on illegal gun purchases and laws to keep guns away from people with mental illness, responded Joseph Bertozzi, senior vice president of O.F. Mossberg and Sons, a gun manufacturer based in North Haven.
"What has never worked is gun bans,'' Bertozzi told members of the legislature's public safety committee, including Hartley, a Waterbury Democrat. "We firmly believe the critical issue in the drive [for] a safer community is keeping guns out of the hands of those that should not have them. … The gun owners here feel like they're the ones under siege."
The legislature, however, is edging closer to enacting a package of tougher gun laws as it debates a response to the Dec. 14 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Two of the highest profile proposals — which have also been subject to the most pushback — are a stronger ban on assault weapons and a 10-round limit on magazine capacity. Both have the backing of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and of other advocates who believe Connecticut has a duty to respond to the tragedy in Newtown.
"The rest of the country is looking at Connecticut," said Ron Pinciaro, executive director of Connecticut Against Gun Violence, who was one of many activists to testify Thursday. "Now is the time. Don't let us down.''
Another gun-control advocate, Bill Katz of Hartford, arrived at the Legislative Office Building before dawn to sign up to speak at the hearing. He sat in a lawn chair outside until the building opened at 7 a.m.
(Excerpt) Read more at courant.com ...
I can 'live' with severely sentencing any criminal, felon, nutjob who has been arrested with an illegally possessed weapon. I can 'live' with rigidly enforcing laws currently enacted. I won't, WILL NOT, live with the subterfuge and pretense of taking guns, limiting magazine capacity, or needlessly restricting gun and ammo ownership by legal, law abiding Americans. You tyrants will have to come and get them, and you will have to be satisfied with the results.
Roger that. We will not comply.
:: The rest of the country is looking at Connecticut,” said Ron Pinciaro, executive director of Connecticut Against Gun Violence ::
No they are NOT, you self-aggrandizing prick! Get over yourself, A$$hole.
“What has never worked is gun bans,’
Banning alcohol didn’t work very well either.
What really worries me is that there are so many proposals being fielded that would make private transfers illegal. (They call it “universal background checks”, but that’s a lie. These proposals wouldn’t create a system by which people could run background checks on private transfers, they’d make private transfers illegal, period.)
If we establish a system by which every legal firearm transfer must be accompanied by a government paper trail, we’ve reversed the presumption of innocence for every gun owner.
Where now possession of a firearm is presumed to be legal, unless there is evidence of some specific crime, we’d have a system where possession of a firearm is by definition a criminal act, for which the existence of the proper paper trail would be an affirmative defense.
And where right now it’s only the NFA collectors who risk prison because the ATF has messed up its database, if we eliminate unpapered, private transfers, every gun owner would be faced with this.
This is something we simply cannot allow.
again. the ban threats are just the bait.
the switch is background check and registration. it’s those that need to be resisted.
In Connecticut? Most of the criminal arrests for illegal gun possession are plea bargained out.
Then 3K dangerous convicted felons are released for time served. And no one sees a problem with this?
Colt workers put on a good show yesterday.
The few gun control advocates speaking yesterday, that were there, came across as pretty childish and demanding. The antis sure didn't have the numbers at the hearings/rallies; they were confrontational, emotional but not factual, and most of the only 2 dozen that signed up to testify got tired and left after a few hours. But the legislature doesn't care....they're forging on with their agenda.
and in that case for awhile, personal possession wasn’t illegal. making your own for personal use wasn’t either - wines for example. harder liquors maybe. but making it for sale, and selling it to people, was.
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