Ghostguns.com
A ghost gun available on the Internet; below, Harp, lawmakers at Church on the Rock.
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Lawmakers Monday gathered in a Hamilton Street church in a quest to stop people from turning their guns into automatic weapons and stop people who shouldn’t have access to guns from building them at home.
The co-chair and vice chair of the General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee joined Mayor Toni Harp and members of the New Haven legislative delegation at the Church on the Rock to announce legislation to change the definition of what a gun is in the state. The goal is to ban bump stocks and so-called “ghost guns.”
Afterwards, the head of a gun rights organization told the Independent the legislators are making bump stocks and ghost guns, which are also known as “80 percent” builds, a bigger deal than they are.
Bump stocks are a device that can be added to a gun like an AR-15 or an AK-47 to give it rapid-fire, or machine gun-like, capabilities. Such a device was used by a shooter in Las Vegas last year to kill 59 and injure 527 people.
Ghost guns are nearly complete guns that can be purchased so a buyer can finish building the gun on their own. You don’t have to have a license to purchase such guns, so they’re unregistered. Such guns don’t come from gun manufacturers, so they don’t have a serial number, which makes them untraceable.
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Tong.
State Rep. William Tong of Stamford, state House Judiciary chair and a candidate for state attorney general, said bump stocks and ghost guns violate the intent and spirit of Connecticut’s gun laws — the second toughest in the nation — requiring background checks for permits and keeping weapons out of the hands of domestic abusers and other violent criminals.
Tong said when he Googled Ghost Guns, “It scared the hell out of me.”
“This is a real threat to our communities,” Tong said. “It is a way for people who cannot lawfully acquire a gun to make guns in short order and can traffic in those guns in our communities. That poses a great risk to all of us. It happens every day on the Internet.”
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Stein.
Jeremy Stein, the new executive director of the group CT Against Gun Violence, said bump stocks enabled a gunman to turn the concert in Las Vegas “into a killing field.”
“This was a weapon of choice that the shooter used in Las Vegas in addition to using tracer rounds and armor-piercing bullets,” Stein said. “This was a weapon of war that he chose. We cannot have bump stocks in our society. There is no legitimate reason to have a bump stock. It’s not used for hunting. It’s not used for self-defense. It is a clever workaround for state and federal laws to make a legal weapon of war.”
Stein said states like Massachusetts and New Jersey have passed bans on bump stocks. Other states and even some cities are following suit. He urged Connecticut to do the same.
“There is no reason we should have that type of device in the hands of civilians,” he said.
Stein said ghost guns also are another attempt by a growing group of people — many who could not otherwise legally obtain a gun — to skirt state and federal laws. He said there have been shootings by owners of ghost guns in northern and southern California and Baltimore, and a man in Fairfield was discovered to be manufacturing his own guns.
“He had 59 firearms,” Stein said. “Nine unregistered assault rifles, two AK-47 rifles and five complete AR-15s with no serial numbers. The AR-15s were built with parts he could get online.
Ghostguns.com
An 80 percent build.
“They’re unregulated, they’re unmarked, they’re unlicensed, they’re unserialized,” he added. “Not a single marking. That’s why they’re referred to as ghost guns, and they’re not required a background check to buy. We are making it too easy for people to obtain guns. We’re making it too easy for people who shouldn’t have guns, who are lawfully prohibited from owning guns. And all they need is a credit card and a drill that they can get at Home Depot and they’ve got themselves a handgun or the lower receiver of an AR-15.”
Scott Wilson, president of the pro-gun Connecticut Citizens Defense League, said the state might be giving the appearance of being tough on guns but its conviction rate for people caught with stolen guns is abysmal. Often, he said, the stolen gun charges are dismissed, dropped, or pleaded down.
“My question is: Why are we trying to pass more laws when we’re not enforcing the existing laws on the books right now?” he asked in an interview. “As far as ghost guns go, they’re not even legally a firearm by federal definition; they’re essentially a hunk of metal until you intentionally manufacture it into a firearm. There aren’t many people who use these types of 80-percent builds, but some of the ones that do, it is legal for them to do at the federal level as long as they are not a prohibited person.”
Wilson also said that a bump stock ban won’t stop anyone who wants to “bump fire” a rifle; the device simply makes it easier to do. He said skilled rifle users can do the same with their belt loops. He said Connecticut already has a law on the books prohibiting gun owners from having more than 10-round magazines, rendering bump stocks pointless.
“Lawmakers are taking an issue and making it into something bigger than it really is,” Wilson said. “This is a law looking for a place to happen.
“I see no need for more gun laws when the state of Connecticut won’t even enforce the existing gun laws on the books,” he added. “This is basically a couple of anti-gun legislators and an anti-gun group or two involved in pushing this to keep their base of support happy to pass a gun law, some gun law every year.”
New Haven’s mayor disagreed with such sentiment, calling violent crime a “public health menace” and unregulated guns a “malignancy.” Harp said she supported common-sense regulation when she was a state senator;she applauded the committee chairs and New Haven’s delegation for “not standing idly by when you know these weapons of destruction of human life can be made an impact our community.”
“There’s just no way to overstate it,” she said. “Conscientious public officials must remain steadfastly involved in this effort if the scourge of gun violence is to ever be effectively addressed in the state.”
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Stafstrom.
State Rep. Steven Stafstrom Jr. of Bridgeport, who serves as the House vice chair of the Judiciary Committee, called the bump stocks and ghost guns measures common-sense proposals meant to close loopholes and ensure that the spirit and intent of Connecticut’s gun laws are honored.
“The gun laws as they are written here in Connecticut say that automatic rifles are not allowed,” he said. “You put a bump stock on a semiautomatic rifle you are making it an automatic rifle. As a policy of this state, we’ve already decided that automatic rifles should not be on our streets, they should not be in our schools, they should not be in our movie theaters, they should be in no place in the state of Connecticut. And by passing a ban on bump stocks we’re making sure that we honor that intent of the law as it already exists.”
Stafstrom said the same is true of ghost guns.
“We have already decided in our state that following the tragic events in Newtown and the plague of urban violence for decades in our state that you must register a firearm and go through certain background checks in order to legally possess a firearm in the state of Connecticut,” he said. “By allowing folks to mail order pieces of a gun and skirt the laws of the state the intent and the spirit of our laws is not being followed. And I truly hope that everyone on the judiciary committee and everyone in the legislature recognizes this year that the legislation we’re proposing is intended to get illegal guns off of our streets and to make sure that the spirit and intent of our laws are being followed.”
Tong said that the judiciary committee is working with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who has recently called on the legislature to expand gun control laws in the state to ban bump stock. Malloy’s push for such a ban does not include ghost guns. But Tong indicated that the aims are similar: to stop the flow of illegal, high-power guns.
“This is incredibly important because these laws work,” Tong said.
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Lemar.
New Haven State Rep. Roland Lemar said states can’t wait for the federal government to act on gun control.
“We’ve been waiting for decades for the federal government to get their act together and come up with concrete, common-sense gun legislation that protects all of our citizens,” he said. “Thankfully, in Connecticut, we’ve had strong leadership that’s helped us become one of the strongest states for public safety.”
He said he anticipates fierce opposition to these proposals from lobbyists who support the gun industry and will be doing all they can to keep legislators from passing such legislation during the upcoming session, which starts Wednesday.
“Far too often we ignore the voices of those who live in our communities who see the impacts of illegal guns, who see the impacts of marketers and lobbyists, and manufacturers who skirt the laws at their own benefit,” he added.
Tong and Stafstrom said they don’t yet know if their Republican colleagues will support such bans. They said they’re hoping that because the measures focus on the illegal possession of guns that they might win some bipartisan support. But Stafstrom said “it’s surprisingly difficult,” given to the opposition of groups like the National Rifle Association, to make any changes, even though leading conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito have both written in support of reasonable restrictions on gun ownership in the name of promoting public safety.
“There is a lot of opposition to the most minute changes,” he said.
“As Mayor Harp said, we’re not just going to stand idly by,” Tong added.
The 2018 Agenda
| Bill # | Status | Summary | Sponsors |
|---|---|---|---|
| HB 5001 | In Committee Died on the Floor | To impose a fee on transactions involving virtual currency. | Pat Dillon |
| HB 5031 SB 4 | In Committee Committee Approved Sent to the Floor Passed Gov. Signed | To allow students to have equal access to institutional financial aid. | Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee |
| HB 5082 | In Committee Committee Approved Died on the Floor | To provide state funds to assist hurricane victims from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands who are living in Connecticut. | Juan Candelaria |
| HB 5126 | In Committee Died on the Floor | To increase funding to boards of education and family resource centers that provide assistance to students and families from Puerto Rico. | Juan Candelaria |
| HB 5112 | In Committee Sent to the Floor Died on the Floor | To permit the retail sale of marijuana and tax such sale to raise revenue for the General Fund and to fund substance abuse treatment, prevention, education and awareness programs. | Juan R. Candelaria, Angel Arce, Josh Elliott, Steven J. Stafstrom, Jeff Currey, Susan M. Johnson, Chris Soto, Patricia A. Dillon, Roland J. Lemar, James M. Albis, Christopher Rosario, Kim Rose, Robyn A. Porter, Edwin Vargas, Matthew Lesser, Gregory Haddad, Joshua Malik Hall, Ezequiel Santiago, Diana S. Urban, Toni E. Walker, Robert Sanchez, Alphonse Paolillo |
| SB 1 | In Committee Died on the Floor | To expand the sick leave program to provide earned family and medical leave to certain individuals employed in this state. | Martin M. Looney, Bob Duff, Timothy D. Larson, Steve Cassano, Beth Bye, Terry B. Gerratana, Gary A. Winfield, Ted Kennedy, Catherine A. Osten, Marilyn V. Moore, Edwin A. Gomes, Mae Flexer |
| SB 62 | In Committee Died on the Floor | To provide tuition-free community college for Connecticut residents. | Martin M. Looney |
| HB 5182 | In Committee Committee Approved Sent to the Floor Died on the Floor | To require building officials in certain municipalities to establish and assess a fee for the commencement of certain work without a necessary permit. | Planning and Development Committee |
| HB 5210 | In Committee Committee Approved Sent to the Floor Passed | To (1) mandate insurance coverage of essential health benefits, (2) expand mandated health benefits for women, children and adolescents, and (3) expand mandated contraception benefits. | Insurance and Real Estate Committee |
| HB 5084 | In Committee Died on the Floor | To encourage the recycling of nip bottles that otherwise frequently litter urban areas. | Roland J. Lemar and Juan R. Candelaria |
| HB 5350 HB 5537 | In Committee Committee Denied Sent to the Floor Died on the Floor | To create a pilot program for shared solar facilities at municipal airports. The bill also would delete the provision that dictates the length of Tweed Airport’s runway. | Energy and Technology Committee |
| HB 5475 | In Committee Committee Approved Sent to the Floor Passed | To amend statutory provisions concerning a police officer’s viewing of a recording from body-worn recording equipment under certain circumstances. | Judiciary Committee |
| HB 5515 | In Committee Committee Approved Sent to the Floor Passed | To permit a zoning commission to regulate the brightness and illumination of advertising signs and billboards. | Judiciary Committee |
| HB 5540 | In Committee Committee Approved Sent to the Floor Died on the Floor | To ban guns without serial numbers and regulate those which are sold in a form requiring the purchaser to finish assembly or that are homemade and to permit local authorities to interview immediate family members as part of a determination of an applicant’s suitability. | Judiciary Committee |
| HB 5542 | In Committee Committee Approved Sent to the Floor Passed | To ban the sale or transfer, possession, manufacturing or use of bump stocks or other accessories to increase the rate of fire of a firearm. | Judiciary Committee |
There is a old saying. America would have tighter gun laws in 24 hours if every black person in America went out and bought a firearm.In fact, black people wouldn't even have to purchase the guns. All we would need to do is fill out the gun license applications and get background checks. Lawmakers would be passing stricter gun laws quicker than you can say bump stock.And if you do not think so.Look at the The Mulford Act that was used on the Black Panthers marched bearing arms upon the California State Capitol to protest the bill.In fact Both Republicans and Democrats in California supported increased gun control. Governor Ronald Reagan was present when the protesters arrived and later commented that he saw "no reason why on the street today a citizen should be carrying loaded weapons" and that guns were a "ridiculous way to solve problems that have to be solved among people of good will." In a later press conference, Reagan added that the Mulford Act "would work no hardship on the honest citizen.The bill was signed by Reagan and became California penal code 25850 and 171c.And the NRA did noting to try to stop this act.