Pro-Second Amendment Group May File Lawsuit Against New Connecticut Gun Laws

ARE THE NEW LAWS CONSTITUTIONAL?

by Sharon Rondeau

(Apr. 7, 2013) — The Connecticut Citizens Defense League (CCDL), whose president was interviewed by The Post & Email last month in regard to proposed new gun laws in the state, is considering filing a lawsuit in response to the new set of laws signed by the governor on Thursday.

WTNH-New Haven described the controversy over whether or not more stringent laws should have been passed in the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School last December as “far from over.”

Connecticut is the third state to react to the Sandy Hook atrocity with stricter gun laws, with New York and Connecticut both skipping the customary period for allowing public comment on the proposals.

CCDL President Scott Wilson had hinted at the possibility of a lawsuit when we contacted him for a statement after Gov. Dannel Malloy signed the measures, which make approximately 100 more weapons prohibited and limit ammunition clips to ten rounds, among other changes.

On Sunday, The Post & Email asked Wilson for comment on the lawsuit by asking the following questions:

1.  Who is the CCDL’s attorney, or would you rather not say right now?

2.  Are other groups joining you as plaintiffs, or are they filing their own lawsuits?

3.  What specifically about the new laws was the impetus for the lawsuit?

4.  When was it filed, and where?

5.  Are you under the impression that more gun restrictions will be passed by the CT General Assembly before the session is over this year?

6.  Do you have more details on the planned event for April 20 yet?

to which he responded:

1) One of our attorneys will be revealed by Tuesday.

2) We cannot comment on other litigants (if any yet)

3) Our attorney is handling this.

4) Nothing has been filed as of yet on our behalf.

5) There is no way to verify this, but the state budget is a mess and they should work on that instead of infringing on rights.

6) Press release on the rally coming soon.

After National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre criticized the new laws signed by Malloy, Malloy called LaPierre “a clown” on the “State of the Union” show aired by CNN earlier on Sunday.  The show was hosted by Candy Crowley, who was criticized for openly assisting Obama during the second presidential debate last fall.

Malloy asked Crowley “to bring [the NRA] back to reality.”

Is that the role of a journalist?

Obama will be speaking at the University of Hartford in West Hartford on Monday “as part of his effort to publicly pressure Congress to pass legislation he believes will reduce gun violence.”  He spoke in Colorado after that state passed stricter gun laws last month.

On April 3, Obama spoke in Colorado and San Francisco at a Democratic fundraiser in San Francisco as platforms to urge more action in Congress, first stating that the AR-15 rifle used by the Sandy Hook perpetrator a “semi-automatic weapon,” then changing his statement to say that a “fully-automatic weapon” was used to kill 20 children and six educators on December 14.  The weapon reported by the Connecticut State Police to have been used by Adam Lanza was an AR-15 Bushmaster, which Lanza used by reloading additional clips to fire approximately 155 rounds in the space of five minutes.

State Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, whose district includes Newtown, voted in favor of the bill after reading the names of the 26 school victims last Wednesday.

Judge Andrew Napolitano described the new laws as “a serious interference with the individual right to keep and bear arms” and opined that they would not have prevented Lanza from committing the mass killing.  Napolitano said the laws are “unenforceable” and “basically for show.”

Some supporters of gun control did not believe that the laws went far enough.