Posted on 06/08/2013 7:09:13 PM PDT by marktwain
HARTFORD -- A longtime gun owner who recently had his permit revoked over a 1971 Halloween egg fight was the inspiration for an amendment to the state's new gun law.
James E. Gorham, a 61-year-old Norwalk gun collector and target shooter, received a letter in January ordering him to turn in his guns; his one instance of teenage mischief disqualified him from legal gun ownership.
"I was first contacted by the Norwalk Police Department before I got a certified letter from the State Police," said Gorham, a businessman. "It was a real surprise. They told me I had been involved in domestic violence and I told them, `You've got the wrong person.' "
The letter referred to a misdemeanor charge for the egg fight, for which Gorham paid a $10 fine when he was 19.
So Gorham, manager of customer service and sales for the Norwalk Compressor Co., turned in his seven handguns to state police at Troop G in Bridgeport.
But his plight caught the attention of House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, who successfully introduced a change in gun legislation that will allow people like Gorham, with lower-level misdemeanors adjudicated before 1994 that do not involve drugs or firearms, to hold onto their guns.
During the General Assembly's debate on the release of photos of the school massacre victims this week, Cafero successfully argued that the rights of his constituent -- Gorham -- had to be protected and should be part of the amendments to the landmark April gun reforms.
Now, Gorham will get his guns back and he can resume target practice at Blue Trail Range in Wallingford.
The issue surfaced last year, when the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown sent law enforcement officials scouring through firearms records.
(Excerpt) Read more at ctpost.com ...
So in a roundabout way, confiscating guns from a 40-year-retired egg fighter will prevent mass murder...ok, got it.
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Bingo!
I have to think that it was the under GWH Bush that things started to go down hill. Clinton certainly made it much worse, and W. didn’t do anything to improve it.
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There isn’t a dime’s worth of difference (on most issues) between the Bushes and Clinton and Obama.
Well, okay, maybe a dime’s.
In 1966 we would bring our shotguns to High School and leave them in our vehicles if we had planned on going hunting after school. Our principal knew this and the police knew this. Hell they could see them in the back window of our pickups. This was ordinary and not one of us would have even contemplated using our weapon in an illegal action.
When I went to University our dorm mother would keep our weapons for us in her quarters. If we went hunting or to the firing range we would check them out from her. When we returned we would take our weapon to our dorm room and clean them and then return them to the dorm mother whom would check them back into her quarters. This was in Louisiana.
Times have changed and much for the worse.
Same here. Walked into a store and bought a Marlin .22 while at college around 1970. We used to go down to the Missouri River bottoms for shooting with bricks of .22 ammo. No problem buying the rifle, the ammo, and nobody thought twice about me having it in my fraternity room.
Have you ever had a parking ticket? Too bad. You’re disqualified from keeping and bearing arms.
Excellent post. You hit the nail on the head.
When a debt is paid, it's paid. If a man robs a bank and is sentenced to 15 years, my understanding is that at the end of the 15 years all rights are restored. If he is paroled, he is still serving his sentence, in effect demonstrating his intention to mind the law. Only after completing the 15 years of his sentence should he have those rights restored.
I don’t think the term “domestic violence” even EXISTED in statutory law in 1971! Ex post facto much, CT? /s;)
It is not the calibar of the eggs, it is the high capacity egg cartons. Who needs eighteen eggs in a carton?
Well now, how did the CT Stater’s know he had ANY firearms?
Screw registration!
Eighteen eggs? Piker, FLATS are the way to go! 30 eggs per flat! Woo Hoo
Good night! That was sure a close call for Mr. Gorham. If it weren’t for special legislation he would gun less. It makes me say that our Second Amendment rights are hanging by a thread. The stupid people of Connecticut have egg on their face for letting their state government go crazy with their gun laws.
Why does someone from Norwalk have to go all the way to Wallingford for a range?
Connecticut needs to leave the Union, and join North Korea, where the behavior of its government would be more appropriate.
They don’t unless they’re shooting rifles. There’s a an indoor pistol range in Norwalk, though.
A longtime gun owner who recently had his permit revoked over a 1971 Halloween egg fight...
I want to know why he gave them to them. I'd have told them to feel free to come on down and pick them up if they thought it was so important. At least that way you'd be sure you were shooting genuine jackboots.
My response would be none of your g-d business.
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