Due to the recent tragedy in Newtown, CT, activists in the Connecticut Legislature have instituted an initiative to limit 2nd Amendment rights.
In addition to gun registration, some of the other proposed laws are:
?50% tax on all ammunition
?Limiting ALL firearms to a single round
?Restrictions on magazine capacity
?Annual permit renewal
?Limitations on the frequency of firearm purchases
In total, there are over
90 new laws being proposed, most with the intention of eroding our rights; some may be worthwhile, such as more in depth background checks and consideration of mental health issues for prospective gun ownership/purchase. However, for the most part, they are intended to exploit the tragedy and deny law-abiding citizens their rights. The misused term "Assault Rifle" also has several new proposed laws directed at it despite the fact that Connecticut already has an assault weapon ban on the books.
Hearings on this subject began at 10am and lasted until nearly 2am the following day. To their credit, many of the legislative panel remained right to the end to hear testimony from the public. The pro-2nd amendment speakers outnumbered the anti's by a 5 or 6-1; however you would not learn that from the media which reported a large outpouring of anti-gun sentiment. Some on the panel were clearly not objective and voiced their anti-gun thoughts from the panel; others testified as citizens before the panel. One legislator in particular was photographed using twitter and Facebook while listening to testimony to denigrate the pro-gun speakers!
The Connecticut State Constitution is even
more clear than the US Constitution with regard to bearing arms. Article 1, Section 15 states:
"Every citizen has a right to bear arms in defense of himself and the state."The best line of the day was from someone mid-afternoon that said, 'Only in Connecticut would the legislature find a way to use the deaths of 26 people as a reason to raise taxes!' The most surprising thing I heard was that police officers are only obligated to perform 3 hours of annual weapons training. (This may vary from community to community and may not be the State Police requirement.)
I waited nearly 15 hours until it was my turn to speak. When I did, I delineated the rights I have as a citizen, the responsibilities citizens bear as permit holders, called upon the legislators to perform their elected duty, and related a story of what one school district is actively doing to possibly prevent similar tragedies.
Here is my testimony:
http://youtu.be/qjcyDCVSNqk
