VOICES Eleni Kavros-DeGraw: Fate of Gun Safety Measures Now in the Senate's Hands
Editor's Note: Each of the GOP representatives with constituents in the 8th Senate District voted against the ghost gun ban discussed in this piece.
It’s unusual for the Connecticut General Assembly to be in the position to pass more than one firearm-related bill per session, but that’s exactly where they find themselves this cycle with the possibility of passing three bills. Two storage bills and the ghost gun bill (that they were unable to pass last year) have made it out of the House and are moving on to the Senate.
The storage bills, H.B. 7223 and H.B. 7218, the latter better known as Ethan’s Law*, passed the House along bi-partisan lines. H.B. 7223 focuses on safe storage in vehicles, while Ethan’s Law refers to safe storage at home. The main thrust of the bills is at the heart of commonsense gun legislation: if you choose to own a firearm, then you need to keep your gun(s) under lock and key when they are not in your immediate possession. Beyond crime, safe storage cuts down on accidents and suicides, and the data is there to back up these facts.
H.B. 7219 An Act Concerning Ghost Guns seeks to ban guns without serial numbers and to regulate ghost guns and/or 3-D printed guns. For those not familiar with ghost guns, they are guns that can skirt both state and federal regulations because they are sold 80% completed with the consumer finishing the product with a small amount of drilling and assembly required. 3-D printed guns are plastic and can be printed on increasingly popular and now readily available 3-D printers. Law enforcement is increasingly concerned about the availability of untraceable guns being sold invisibly and going unregistered in communities they work to keep safe. Consider this for a moment: AR-15s, which are banned in Connecticut, can be obtained this way.
It’s additionally concerning because it’s yet another way for criminals who have been banned from owning firearms to circumvent the system. In California, a man who was not allowed to own a firearm because of two assault charges used a 3-D printed gun to murder his wife and four other people. Closer to home in New York, a police officer was accused of selling the guns he assembled at his home to a motorcycle gang.
The main arguments being floated as to why Senate Republicans will probably vote against this bill (the same way their colleagues in the House voted) are concerns over the possibility of consumers being charged with a crime for owning a hunk of metal in Connecticut and the blithe commentary that “those guns” aren’t an issue here. Neither argument holds any water because already there have been cases of these guns turning up in raids and the language of the bill is very specific as to what constitutes a crime. Previously, an argument was made that it would hurt manufacturing in Connecticut which is a gross overstatement of what any of our manufacturers provide for ghost gun parts.
The reality is, we are capable of holding two thoughts at the same time: we need laws to protect people and we also want people to be free to exercise their right to the Second Amendment. Freedom, but within limits is perhaps the best framework to think of commonsense gun legislation because the right to bear arms ends where public safety begins. Please reach out to Senator Kevin Witkos and your 8th District Representatives to express your thoughts on these issues and their votes.
For more information on these issues, please see this editorial: https://www.courant.com/opinion/op-ed/hc-op-perloe-ghost-guns-0314-20190314-qiidwzlgjbc7vkv6tofb6nxazy-story.html or visit the Connecticut Against Gun Violence website: http://www.cagv.org
*The law is named for EthanSong who accidentally shot himself at a friend’s house in January 2018.
Eleni Kavros DeGraw is the Fundraising Chair of the Avon DTC, 2018 Candidate for State Representative in the 17th District, Co-Founder of ForwardCT and 100 Women Who Can — Farmington Valley and is currently working at Foodshare as their Giving Team Coordinator.