The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Weapons registry under review
Hearst report prompts questions from lawmakers about need for secrecy
HARTFORD — The recent Hearst C onnecticut Media report on a secret of list of violent felons has prompted legislative review of what had been a small, overlooked piece of the state’s landmark response to the 2012 Newtown school massacre.
But whether anything will be done on revising the law during the short, 13-week budget adjustment session of the General Assembly that starts on Wednesday, remains to be seen.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and a leading gun-safety activist agree that the current list of 1,875 felons who are required to update their addresses and photographs during their first five years out of prison, is a complicated subject that requires scrutiny and a weighing of concerns over privacy and public disclosure.
Access to the registry is banned from the public, and is of only limited use for law enforcement.
“This is an issue the legislature certainly needs to explore and evaluate further, and in particular we should consider if there is a need for the registry at all,” said state Rep. Steve Stafstrom, DBridgeport, co-chairman of the law-writing Judiciary Committee.
“We have begun gathering information and looking into the legislative history and rationale for the bill over the past few days.”
Last year the committee succeeded in passing a law against untraceable, so-called ghost guns, as well as legislation requiring gun owners to lock even unloaded weapons, a requirement that was also supported overwhelmingly by the U.S. House of Representatives.
The state’s nearly seven-yearold Deadly Weapon Offender Registry was just a tiny piece of the April, 2013 response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. It primarily banned the sale of military-style rifles and large-capacity ammunition magazines and required even those buying bullets to have firearms permits.
Mandatory participation in the registry is usually included in plea bargaining and sentencing of offenders found guilty of 42 violent crimes with guns or knives, and is imposed by state judges in addition to the routine prohibitions against felons possessing firearms.
Max Reiss, communications director for Gov. Ned Lamont, said Monday that the registry is a tool for law enforcement, but the governor wants to meet with James C. Rovella, commissioner of the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection to have a dialogue and review of the policy.
“The regulation was part of the reforms that passed in the aftermath of a tragedy,” Reiss said.
State Sen. Tony Hwang, RFairfield, whose multi-town district includes Newtown, said he wants to research the relative value of the registry, and whether it’s worth either maintaining its exemption under the state Freedom of Information Act or releasing the registry to the public like the state’s transparent Sex Offender Registry.
“I think just the opportunity to have this discussion is a step forward,” said Hwang, ranking member of the Public Safety and Security Committee, in an interview last week. “I think we have to go back and really understand why the registry was created in the first place and understand and hear from law enforcement. Then we can analyze the merits. If it comes to be that the registry is necessary, then we have to evaluate whether it needs to be kept private or open for transparency. I think it needs to be a two-step process.”
Jeremy Stein, executive director of CT Against Gun Violence, said Monday that he has mixed feelings about both the deadly weapon and sex-offender registries. “You’re more likely to be more molested by someone you know than someone on the (sex offender) list,” Stein said.
“The bigger problem is making sure, from my perspective, people who commit violent crimes are not permitted to obtain firearms by any means,” Stein said. He would support legislation requiring gun sellers to report cases to police when they reject potential buyers because of tainted background checks.
He said that if the registry were made public it might help deter people from trying to obtain firearms illegally.
“Everybody who has a gun is dangerous,” Stein said. “It’s a lethal weapon.
The gun makes you dangerous. People can be responsible gun owners, but the mere fact of having a gun makes you more dangerous.”
Stafstrom said that while the legislative session is just a little more than three months long, the fact is that the committee process is only seven weeks.
“At this point, I’m not sure if we will have consensus for a committee bill for this short legislative session or not but the issue does need a full public hearing at some point,” Stafstrom said.
“There are a number of important and thorny issues facing the Judiciary Committee this year.”