Connecticut Gun Owners Refusing to Register Their Guns?

Mick West

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(Originally in the "Fake City" thread, by @Lode )

The original story in The Courant:
http://articles.courant.com/2014-02...1_assault-weapons-rifles-gun-registration-law

Everyone knew there would be some gun owners flouting the law that legislators hurriedly passed last April, requiring residents to register all military-style rifles with state police by Dec. 31.

But few thought the figures would be this bad.

Bythe end of 2013, state police had received 47,916 applications for assault weapons certificates, Lt. Paul Vance said. An additional 2,100 that were incomplete could still come in.

That 50,000 figure could be as little as 15 percent of the rifles classified as assault weapons owned by Connecticut residents, according to estimates by people in the industry, including the Newtown-based National Shooting Sports Foundation. No one has anything close to definitive figures, but the most conservative estimates place the number of unregistered assault weapons well above 50,000, and perhaps as high as 350,000.

And that means as of Jan. 1, Connecticut has very likely created tens of thousands of newly minted criminals — perhaps 100,000 people, almost certainly at least 20,000 — who have broken no other laws. By owning unregistered guns defined as assault weapons, all of them are committing Class D felonies.

"I honestly thought from my own standpoint that the vast majority would register," said Sen. Tony Guglielmo, R-Stafford, the ranking GOP senator on the legislature's public safety committee. "If you pass laws that people have no respect for and they don't follow them, then you have a real problem."

The problem could explode if Connecticut officials decide to compare the list of people who underwent background checks to buy military-style rifles in the past, to the list of those who registered in 2013. Do they still own those guns? The state might want to know.


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Then various takes upon the story:

Fox News: Reports: "CT Gun Owners Refusing to Register Their Guns"
http://foxnewsinsider.com/2014/02/13/reports-connecticut-gun-owners-refusing-register-their-guns (http://archive.is/w3sLN)

Glenn Beck: "An act of civil disobedience? Connecticut gun owners defy new ‘assault weapon’ laws"
http://www.glennbeck.com/2014/02/13...icut-gun-owners-defy-new-assault-weapon-laws/ (http://archive.is/8sNm8)

RT: "Tens of thousands of Connecticut residents refuse to register guns under new law"
http://rt.com/usa/connecticut-gun-law-registration-791/ (http://archive.is/lhszO)

Infowars: "Connecticut Gun Owners Revolt; Refuse to Register Firearms & Magazines"
http://www.infowars.com/connecticut-gun-owners-revolt-refuse-to-register-firearms-magazines/
 
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The implication of the above stories is that there's some massive protest going on, even shades of "revolution". The story seems only to be reported in conservative media. I think the story resonates very differently depending on how you feel about gun control.

The law:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_Connecticut

Connecticut has bans on defined 'assault weapons,' which includes selective fire firearms unless purchased before October 1, 1993, and a limited list of semiautomatic AR, AK, and SKS variants. Magazines holding more than 10 rounds are considered Large Capacity Magazines and are prohibited, with grandfathering for those possessed prior to April 4, 2013 provided they are registered with DESPP by January 1, 2014.[12] On April 4, 2013, Governor Malloy signed a comprehensive gun control bill that expands the scope of the assault weapon ban by reducing the number of defined features from two to one, while adding 100 specific firearms to the existing assault weapons ban list. Such weapons that were lawfully owned prior to the enactment of the law are grandfathered, but must be registered with the DESPP. Exceptions to the ban also exist for law enforcement and military members, but these weapons too must be registered.

Connecticut allows all NFA firearms other than selective fire machine guns; however, guns of this type that existed in Connecticut before the ban are grandfathered. Selective fire means that a machine gun can fire semi or fully automatically. Machine guns that can only fire fully automatically are legal in Connecticut if they were possessed prior to April 4, 2013 and registered on or before January 1, 2014.

Firearms that meet Connecticut's assault weapon criteria that were manufactured and lawfully acquired prior to September 13, 1994 are no longer required to be registered with the DESPP and may be sold or transferred to any person who is not prohibited from owning firearms under state or federal law.
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You even found an article on it on Infowars. I looked for there but didn't see it. I sure would like to have you as a detective on my team if I were in charge of police investigations... but you would probably be my boss instead. If you would even allow me to be on your team. :)
 
US striving for a better mechanism of gun control has born much bunk and rightly wrongly or sadly the bunk is winning the higher ground

the NRA use a bit of word smithing editing down the 2ndA from "A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."


reducing it down and only proclaim over NRA headquarter office that "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

Slightly missing the 1791 idea of few blokes with muskets keeping, we the people bit safer


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/burton-newman/the-nras-fraud-fabricatio_b_3103358.html

Bill Ruger makes my favorite guns and even he reckons 10 round mag all you need and i agree

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_B._Ruger

Ruger received criticism from some gun owners for suggesting that rather than ban guns, that Congress should outlaw magazines holding more than 15 rounds.[8] On March 30, 1989, Bill Ruger sent a letter to every member of the US Congress stating:

"The best way to address the firepower concern is therefore not to try to outlaw or license many millions of older and perfectly legitimate firearms (which would be a licensing effort of staggering proportions) but to prohibit the possession of high capacity magazines. By a simple, complete and unequivocal ban on large capacity magazines, all the difficulty of defining 'assault rifle' and 'semi-automatic rifles' is eliminated. The large capacity magazine itself, separate or attached to the firearm, becomes the prohibited item. A single amendment to Federal firearms laws could effectively implement these objectives."​

William B. Ruger​
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oh sorry deidre i was editing as you notice post as had to take the dawg for walk,,, I understand you may or may not now agree.
 
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