Democratic push for stronger gun reforms falls short

Democratic efforts to enact stronger gun control reforms this legislative session have largely fallen short, with a proposal to crack down on so-called straw purchases the latest to fail.

The Judiciary Committee, at its final meeting Monday to advance bills for consideration by the full General Assembly, did not take up a controversial piece of legislation that would’ve limited the purchase, delivery or transfer of handguns to one per month, with few exceptions.

Proponents said it would’ve helped to crack down on the practice of straw purchasing when people legally purchase guns to give them to those who are not permitted to have firearms, enabling them to circumvent background checks.

The bill received heavy opposition from gun owners in the state when it came up for a public hearing. Lauren E. LePage, state director of the National Rifle Association in Connecticut, testified that “one-gun-amonth schemes” restrict lawabiding citizens from exercising their Second Amendment rights.

Lack of action on the bill Monday followed changes the committee made last week to Gov. Ned Lamont’s anti-crime bill before voting to advance it to the Senate floor.

Lawmakers removed the portions of the bill that sought to rein in illegal “ghost” guns and expand the state’s existing ban on assault weapons. Provisions that would’ve required trigger locks, a state license for gun dealers and allowed police to stop people openly carrying firearms to request to see their permits also were taken out.

Rep. Steve Stafstrom, DBridgeport, co-chair of the committee, said the short, 12-week session is largely to blame for little movement on gun control measures. “Unfortunately, some very good legislation became the victim of the calendar,” he said.

With a month to go until the session adjourns, there wasn’t time for a lengthy debate on partisan gun legislation. Plus, the committee was focused this session on issues where there was bipartisan agreement, Stafstrom said.

“We were able to do that on juvenile justice reforms, on compassionate release, on certain major labor initiatives, so I think the problem is we were not able to get any sort of bipartisan compromise on gun regulations,” he said. “That’s unfortunate.”

The committee also did not act on a Republican bill that was essentially Connecticut’s version of a so-called stand-yourground law. The bill would’ve allowed innocent targets of criminals to use deadly force, particularly firearms, to defend themselves.

Another Republican proposal, which would’ve allowed for the transfer of assault weapons and large capacity magazines between people who already legally possess such weapons or magazines, also failed to make it out of committee.

Hearst Connecticut Media file photo The Connecticut State Capital building in Hartford.