Your voice is needed! Did you participate in the March for Our Lives event? Are you concerned about gun violence in our schools and in the wider community? Want our leaders to take more action to address this issue?
CT Legislation: There is legislation to ban bump stocks being considered in Connecticut right now. Bill HB 5542 would ban bump stocks. Bump stocks make semi-automatic weapons fire like an automatic weapon, thus making the weapons more dangerous. Another bill, HB 5540 would regulate ghost guns. The bill would “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.” (CGA).
These bills have moved favorably out of the Judicial Committee. Within the next few weeks, the bills will hopefully be taken up by the Connecticut General Assembly to be voted on (before the end of their session on May 9). If the House and Senate approve the bills, they would then go to Governor Malloy to be signed in to law. Governor Malloy has been very supportive of these efforts so far.
You could talk to your legislator specifically about these bills, or more generally about how you think they could act to address gun violence.
Calls are needed to the House and Senate Leadership to urge them to bring these bills up for a vote this session.
Find out who your state legislator is at: https://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/cgafindleg.asp
Speaker of the House: Representative Joe Aresimowicz, 860-240-8500, Joe.Aresimowicz@cga.ct.gov
Senate President Pro Tempore: Senator Martin Looney, 860-240-8600, 860-240-0375, Looney@senatedems.ct.gov
Sample script:
(Note that you will likely speak with a staff person at your legislator’s office when you call. That’s ok, and they will relay your message to the legislator.)
“Hello, my name is ______ and I live in your district. I’m concerned about gun violence in our schools and communities, and I’m calling to urge you to take action to prevent future violence. Please support H.B. 5542 AN ACT CONCERNING BUMP STOCKS AND OTHER MEANS OF ENHANCING THE RATE OF FIRE OF A FIREARM and HB 5540: AN ACT CONCERNING GHOST GUNS AND THE PERMIT APPLICATION PROCESS. Thank you for your time.”
