Gun-Control Movement Split by Ambition to Ban Handguns

Common Dreams News Center ^ | April 19, 2000 | by Eric Lichtblau and Richard Simon

[vannrox]

"...For all the recent talk of "smart" guns, trigger locks and other innovations in weapons safety, an increasingly vocal minority in the gun-control community is arguing that nothing short of a ban on handguns will stem gun violence. They maintain that the current array of half-step advances in gun-safety technology could actually fuel violence...."


"...Yet the mere mention of a much more ambitious agenda--a handgun ban--has expanded the national debate and generated both enthusiasm and division within a gun-control community that is enjoying unprecedented visibility and financial backing in the year since Columbine...."


"... "Historically, if you talked about banning handguns, it was political suicide. I don't think that's true anymore,"..."

Please visit here for the entire article.

[vannrox]

In their dreams...

[PoorMuttly]

Alternate dimension lifestyle.

[vannrox]

Page 1

2001 Connecticut

2001 Connecticut

Firearms Safety Initiative

Firearms Safety Initiative

Senate Public Safety Chairman

Alvin Penn

House Judiciary Chairman

Michael Lawlor

Senate Majority Leader

George Jepsen

CT Attorney General

Richard Blumenthal

---

Page 2

2001 Firearms Safety Initiative

2001 Firearms Safety Initiative

Overview

Overview

* Assault Weapons Ban

* .50 Caliber Weapons Ban

* .50 Caliber AP & API Ammunition Ban

* Restraining Orders

* Safety Standards

* Municipal & State "Safe Firearms" Purchasing

Policy

* Board of Firearms Permit Examiners

* Child Fatality Review Board

* Large Capacity Magazines

---

Page 3

Assault Weapons Ban

* The 2001 Connecticut Firearms Safety Initiative

will update the Connecticut Assault Weapons Ban

to cover all known military-style assault weapons

currently legal and available for purchase in

Connecticut.

* This year's Assault Weapons Ban update will

contain provisions that will cover future guns with

similar physical characteristics. It will also allow

the Attorney General to maintain and continually

update the list of banned assault weapons.

---

Page 4

.50 Caliber Weapons Ban

* Long-range fifty caliber sniper weapons are

among the most powerful and destructive firearms

legally available in the United States. They can be

used to hit targets over a mile away.

* The 2001 Connecticut Firearms Safety Initiative

will add all ultra-destructive, long range, military-

style .50 caliber semi-automatic sniper weapons to

the Assault Weapons ban.

* Those possessing these weapons on the law's

effective date will have one year to obtain a

certificate of possession. After the law's effective

date it will be a felony to offer for sale, sell or

otherwise transfer these weapons.

---

Page 5

.50 Caliber AP & API

Ammunition Ban

* The power and destructiveness of fifty caliber sniper

weapons can be dramatically enhanced by the use of

specialized armor piercing (AP) and armor piercing

incendiary (API) ammunition, which is readily available

on the civilian market. This ammunition can pierce several

inches of metal, go through bulletproof glass, explode on

impact, and provide tracers to increase accuracy for night

shooting.

* The 2001 Connecticut Firearms Safety Initiative will

prohibit the possession, offering for sale, sale or other

transfer of these various fifty caliber ammunition types,

which are ultra-destructive and have no legitimate sporting

purpose.

---

Page 6

Readily Available .50 Caliber

AP & API Ammunition

One Midwestern gun dealer

informed us that he has

1.5 million rounds of

Armor Piercing (AP) and

Armor Piercing

Incendiary (API) .50

caliber ammunition in-

stock and readily

available to be sold and

shipped to Connecticut.

---

Page 7

Restraining Orders

* The 2001 Connecticut Firearms Safety Initiative

will take steps to prevent tragedies, like the East

Haven murder-suicide, from ever happening again,

and to better ensure the safety of those who are

forced to seek a restraining order to protect

themselves.

* Under this year's legislation any individual who

becomes the subject of a restraining order will be

required to immediately relinquish, to law

enforcement, all weapons in his possession.

---

Page 8

Safety Standards

* Currently, domestically manufactured firearms are

not subject to any uniform set of safety standards.

* Cheap, unsafe handguns are commonly used in

crimes-particularly by youths.

* Under this law, all handguns sold in Connecticut

will be required to pass rigorous tests and safety

standards, and be equipped with various safety

features.

---

Page 9

Municipal & State "Safe

Firearms" Purchasing Policy

* The 2001 Connecticut Firearms Safety Initiative

will prohibit state agencies and municipalities

from purchasing firearms from any manufacturer

unless that manufacturer provides evidence that

they manufacture weapons that are as safe as

possible, are impossible for criminals to alter so

that they cannot be traced by law enforcement,

and that the manufacturer has appointed a

compliance officer to ensure compliance with

various safety-related policies.

---

Page 10

Board of Firearms Permit

Examiners

* Promulgate standards for board decisions on appeals from

the denial or revocation of firearms permits.

* Require the board to comply with the Uniform

Administrative Procedures Act and to adopt procedural

rules pursuant to the Regulations Review process.

* Delete references to "The Connecticut State Rifle &

Revolver Assoc., Inc." and "Ye Connecticut Gun Guild,

Inc." as statutory members of the board.

---

Page 11

Child Fatality Review Board

* Currently no state agency is responsible for

investigating youth-related firearms deaths.

* Under this new proposal, the Child Fatality

Review Board will be required to collect,

analyze and report firearms-related deaths

in addition to their other reporting

requirements.

---

Page 12

Large Capacity Magazines

* The 2001 Connecticut Firearms Safety

Initiative will complement the Assault

Weapons Ban by prohibiting the sale,

importation into the state, keeping, offering

or exposing for sale, giving, lending or any

other transfer of large capacity ammunition

magazines, with the capacity to accept more

than 10 rounds.

[mountaineer]

Veteran police officer encourages citizens to own and carry guns, thread here.

[dark_lord]

Did anyone notice this "article" is almost 2 1/2 years old?

[Puppage]

I think that we should ban gravity, too. Too many children fall out of trees & nothing less than the total ban on gravity will suffice.

[spqrzilla9]

Why post two year old articles?

[tall_tex]

I am not defending the poster, but possibly poster just might have wanted to remind us that they are still out there.

Do you think that the gun grabbers have changed their minds?

I don't.

[Squantos]

50 caliber shark gun bump............Stay Safe !!

[Mini-14]

This article was published in April 19, 2000.

[umgud]

I have a problem with this restraining order issue. Several states require people with them to turn in their firearms. In this day and age, everytime a woman files divorce, her lawyer files a restraining order just to be on the safe side. What a crock of crap.

[Timm]

Yeah, brings chills to remember what we were dealing with only two years ago, though, doesn't it?

Not that we ought to consider the present federal torpor on gun legislation anything other than a reprieve.

[Zon]

Why many politicians and bureaucrats embrace gun-grabbing special interest groups.

The Cycle of "Justified" Violence

Politicians and bureaucrats "justify" keeping their jobs and reelection by protecting the citizens from criminals. If there's not enough criminals they create a boogieman followed by laws to protect the people from it. Thus creating a new category of criminals. Lock up the boogieman-pot-smokers and let the violent criminals reenter society so they can create more violent crimes and the people will speak out against the violence and cry out for politicians and bureaucrats to do their job. The cycle of justified violence.

[fire_eye]

I think that we should ban gravity, too. Too many children fall out of trees & nothing less than the total ban on gravity will suffice.

I've seen that suggested before... In fact, what I recall seeing is a reported effort (ostensibly fictional) by a town council, to pass legislation setting the gravitational constant to zero.

Accompanying the report were quotes from the learned Town Fathers (and mothers), such as, "It's such a small number, nobody will notice", and "If it saves the life of just one child"...