I got a, frankly, disturbing email from my good friends at CCDL today pointing me to this article on their blog and am reposting it here to help get the word out. This is the kind of thing that happens when legislators meet in the dark back-rooms in the state capitol building in Hartford, sneaking through legislation under the false pretense of so-called Emergency Certification to bypass the normal procedures a bill goes through.
Governor Malloy was on the Chaz and A.J. show this morning where he took a call on the new gun law.
Caller:
Hey governor. I’m just curious about this new gun bill that came out especially with pistols with high capacity mags. Right now I’ve got two 14-round mags that are only loaded to 10 as required, but it’s unclear, can I carry both of them if they’re loaded to 10 or can I only carry one?Malloy:
First of all what you have to do is disclose – there’s a way to disclose that you have them and you’re grandfathered in. So, that’s how our law works in Connecticut. You don’t lose the right to have them, you just have to say that you have them. “Hey, I’m Joe. I’ve got two of these.” and that’s it. So the limitations that you’re fearing aren’t necessarily in our bill. They are – I think you’re referring to New York’s law, quite frankly, and New York has a different set of laws than we do.
The Governor is mistaken. The law he signed into law back in April does indeed prevent someone from carrying a so-called ‘Large Capacity Magazine’ even if it is properly declared, and absolutely limits the number of bullets to 10.
Section 25(f)(7) of Public Act 13-3:
“Pursuant to a valid permit to carry a pistol or revolver, provided such large capacity magazine (A) is within a pistol or revolver that was lawfully possessed by the person prior to the effective date of this section, (B) does not extend beyond the bottom of the pistol grip, and (C) contains not more than ten bullets.”
By requiring the magazine be “within” a pistol or revolver you are limiting the number of declared ‘large capacity magazine’ one is able to carry, along with the number of bullets it can contain. For the governor’s statement to be true you would need to carry multiple guns or find a gun the holds 2 or more magazines.
The Governor and Legislators were in such a rush to pass SB1160 they did not even hold public hearings, denying citizens their due process. Maybe if Governor Malloy had given the people, you know, those of us he called the “fringe of the fringe” a chance to speak about the bill, we could have pointed out issues such as this. Maybe if Governor Malloy had listened to those of us he labeled as the “fringe” he would understand the points of these new laws that are so confusing to us, the ones that actually try to obey the law. But, apparently, he doesn’t know what he signed into law.
This legislation is so convoluted that lawyers and elected officials are not sure what’s legal and what’s not. Donate to the CCDL’s Litigation Fund as we work to overturn this nonsense.
I strongly doubt that the wording of the specific section in the law is a mistake. I think they worded it that way intentionally to obfuscate the law and further disarm law abiding citizens. I had previously noted this almost tricky language and was planning on going to my local police dept. and ask for a clarification. But if Governor Malloy doesn’t know what he signed into law (bad), or doesn’t understand what it means (worse), or knows AND understands, but deliberately misinforms (worst), what can I expect from the police who are supposed to enforce the law? If I ask five different officers, how many different answers will I get? How many good people are right now unwittingly in violation of the law the governor himself doesn’t comprehend, risking arrest and imprisonment, a permanent criminal stain on their records and quite possibly losing their right to own (and much less carry) firearms?
