Once again, we’re looking at an exemption from unconstitutional gun ban bills for active and retired police. Last time, it was (and still is) New York and Texas (since rescinded). This time it’s Connecticut, whose legislators have returned to their civilian disarmament bills to “modify” their provisions to exempt the law enforcement community, both past and present. abcnews.go.com reports that . . .
The revisions expand the list of inspectors and enforcement officers who can legally possess and purchase the banned firearms to include sworn and certified officers at the department of motor vehicles, the chief state’s attorney office, the department of energy and environmental protection and some constables with police certification. It exempts such officers from the certificate requirement for long gun ownership, and allows them to maintain possession of assault weapons and large capacity magazines after their service ends by registering them.
So it’s one rule for citizens and another rule for the protected class known as police. It’s hard to imagine a more outrageous example of the elitism that informs the politicians bent on civilian disarmament (remembering the police are civilians too).
The revisions sailed through CT’s legislature. Monday, the Senate approved it 33-1. The House of Representatives OK’ed it by a 131-15 vote. Malloy’s pen will skate across the cop carve-out presently. Republican Sen. Joe Markley was the only senator to oppose Monday’s bill.
“I think if we acknowledge that we are putting law enforcement officers at risk by limiting their ability to defend themselves,” he said, “I think we have to acknowledge that we’re putting homeowners at risk by limiting their ability to defend themselves.”
A lone voice of reason in a slave state. Which has clearly lost its mind.
The bill also clarifies the status of .22-caliber rimfire rifles, defining them as assault weapons when fitted with a detachable magazine and more than one of several features including a folding or telescoping stock, bayonet mount or flash suppressor.
With a bit of modification, you too can turn an Ruger 10-22 into an “assault weapon.” Or not, if you live in Connecticut.
Saying that, if you’re a CT res who ordered a 10-22 that [now] qualifies as an assault weapon before April 4 and it didn’t arrive until later you’re good. As long as you register it. But you can’t sell or transfer the rifle in state. Out of state? Fine.
If you’re a cop or ex-cop? Hmmm. I don’t think you can mod a 10-22 “assault weapon”-style. Unless you do or did so as part of your job. If not, I guess you have to console yourself with your taxpayer-funded “high capacity” AR-15. Or two. Or three.
There’s your common sense gun control.
I would almost want states like CT to go full-on fascist, just so I could stand just outside the border and say, “This is what y’all asked for. Now you’ve got it.”
People do that to us in California. Look where that’s gotten you.
Except that it may have been only 51% of the registered voters that wanted it. Since I’m a California resident I know what it’s like to have rights denied simply because of your zip code. Forcing some to give up their rights because of address sets a bad example which can spread quickly. I’m old enough to remember when most states were may issue and I’d hate to see us lose that ground.
Unfortunately, standing just outside the border would mean you’re either in New York, Massachusetts, or Rhode Island. Leave your guns at home.
So you’ll be standing in the even-more facist Mass or NY? Or will you be in a boat?
I’m thinking offshore with a liberation force.
Geography was never my strong suit. But you get the point.
Massachusetts is in better shape than Connecticut right now. They can still own AR’s, AK’s and pre-ban magazines. It’s one of several states I can see my self moving to after New Hampshire and Virginia.
Beware Mass. While its currently better than Connecticut who knows how long that will last. Plus this state is notorious for taking 8 weeks+ to process gun ownership applications(LTC). I live outside of Boston and had to wait 7 months for the state to “grant” me my right to bear arms.
I mean this civilly. As a resident of CT I have to say it wasn’t what we asked for. I was at the Capitol 3 times with thousands of other pro gun people that testified against these bills. The underlying reason the bill passes in April was that Governor Malloy Bullied to push it through, and the President Pro Tempore Donald Williams and Sen Majority Leader Looney had preconceived wishes to restrict legal gun ownership as much as possible. They used an Emergency Certification to, in the final passage of the bill, to push it through and skip the usual Committee process. From 138 page bill to law in 2 days. It is difficult to take a real count of what the people want, especially as it is so hard to figure out what will be delivered after the promises have faded, but I believe the people of CT are not getting what they were promised or wanted. Those that think they did really don’t know what happened. On top of this all Gov. Malloy is trying to further destroy transparency by running secret meeting on legislation, most recently to restrict FOI on the newtown massacre. Presumably to block crime photos of the victims (which as far as I can find out CT State Police would not release anyway, ie a new law to prohibit what was prohibited) while less visibly blocking other facts of the investiatiom. Hard to really tell what though as, well we haven’t seen anything yet! The investigation was supposed to release a report June 15 but it has just been delayed to September.
vote the right way when the time comes and get friends to do the same and get everyone you can to contact their reps. and make their voice heard. I moved out of CT 27 years ago and thank God.
“Vote the right way”.. I AM SO SICK OF THIS BULLSHIT! The whole voting thing is FUBAR!!! It’s RIGGED!! Only candidates that meet certain qualifications GET NOMINATED!
CUT THE EFFING CHARADE!
@William, it’s okay. You don’t have to vote. But you do have to take a Valium.
I thought an assault rifle was a military style rifle that fired a military cartridge. Can someone tell what military uses a standard issue 22lr? A Brown Bess would be more effective.
California is going the same route, but God only knows why. Any magazine fed rimfire semi-auto rifle will, if the proposed law is enacted, be defined as an “assault rifle.” Seems the tube fed Marlins are GTG, but 10/22s will be a definite no-no and will have to be registered if you want to keep them. (And of course, future sales will be banned.)
Kind of the opposite of Germany where you can have any military style rifle you want as long is its chamber in 22lr. GSG makes a lot money that way.
Actually, tube fed Marlins are not gtg. Since they have a fixed magazine that holds more than 10 rds, SB 374 would ban them as assault weapons too. Though they could easily be modified to be acceptable.
Note, current CA law exempts tube fed rimfire of any type and tube fed centerfire lever actions from the magazine limits. So a Marlin with 10+ in the tube is okay now.
I’ve heard Israel likes sniping Palestinians with .22s .
im in ca and confused about registration. i believe our handguns in ca are registered but our long guns in ca are not registered. does anyone know if that is correct? i would be very happy to hear the long guns are safe from confiscation.
Long gun registration for NEWLY PURCHASED long guns begins Jan 1, 2014. HOWEVER, this is a bill making its way through the state gov’t that would require registration of ALL long guns owned or possessed, even those PRIOR to the 2014 long gun registration.
Long gun registration for NEWLY PURCHASED long guns begins Jan 1, 2014. HOWEVER, there is a bill making its way through the state gov’t that would require registration of ALL long guns owned or possessed, even those PRIOR to the 2014 long gun registration.
Staggering levels of dumb.
The “carve out” exemptions are simply to placate and co-opt often well organized pro gun (for themselves at least) and vociferous LEO groups that won’t sit idly by while their means of self defense are taken away from them by fraudulent gun grabber politicians.
Strong push back by LEO organizations would be hard to explain away by the grabbers; and if the LEOs started to expose the uselessness of the grabber agenda, the grabbers would lose even more momentum.
The problem is that gun grabbers have a whole lot of momentum in slave states such as NY, CA, NJ, etc.
@ Accur81:
That’s due to years of political insurrection and re-education to establish a dependent voter base which will vote Democrat in order to sustain the *perceived* benefits of doing so. The slave states Democrats (like CA, et al) have just been at it longer; don’t the rest of you freedom braggarts be surprised when it comes to a state near you, even your own.
Nowhere is safe from the clutches of this anti freedom cancer, particularly with the mobility we have in our society.
Remember how illegal aliens from Mexico and South America were once only a significant “problem’ in the Southwestern States? Reasons for the migration have always existed. Political will by both parties for different reasons let it grow and has for years overridden enforcement efforts. The Dems won the long term political benefit because it has expanded their voter base.
Our mobility has helped endanger our freedoms by allowing Dem progressives to spread their dependency message far and wide over time, and it continues unabated.
And let there be no doubt; progressive Democrats, especially the extremists, are completely intolerant of anyone who does not accept and conform to their agenda. If you don’t hop on their train with a one way ticket, you’ll be marginalized wherever possible and left behind to suffer whatever fate they can legally bullishly lay on you.
what do the department of motor vehicles, the chief state’s attorney office, the department of energy and environmental protection need “assault weapons” for?
The Zombie Apocalypse.
They have no greater need than any of us. Probably less of a need. This is simply more government elitism.
Considering how the current regime is using the EPA to attack political opponents and common folk who won’t be silenced, perhaps they see a need to step their efforts up a notch at the state level too. Nothing tells a people to fear the government better than the barrel of a gun.
“It exempts such officers from the certificate requirement for long gun ownership, and allows them to maintain possession of assault weapons and large capacity magazines after their service ends by registering them.”
You have to register like everyone else once you retire and if you are currently retired, you also have to register like everyone else. Only current LEO are exempt. Why the Motor Vehicle Dept. needs AR’s, I have no idea. Sen. Joe Markley is a voice of reason and unfortunately there are very few of them.
Well it’s not like a former cop has ever gone on a shooting rampage and put Southern California on lockdown for a week or anything.
In fairness to CA, there are not former LEO exemptions, either in the current law or proposed. Meaning, retired cops cannot keep, e.g., a regular AR-15.
They did try a retired cop exception in the past for some laws, but courts didn’t like it and found it violated equal protection. CA courts can be suprisingly reasonable at times.
Too bad your elected officials are not
Ditto, Jerry.
Kudos for CA for getting something right, but the greater point here is that cops and ex-cops from California or out here in flyover country are just as likely to go berserk and start shooting people as, say your average CCW holder.
Maybe, maybe not.
There was a comparison of violent crime per 100,000 among cops and among regular joes showing roughly the same amount. But factor this in, most violent crime (90% of murders, e.g.) are done by men. 87% of police are men. If they committed crime on the same rate, the total for all police would be higher than the general population. Adjusting just for gender, and you find a notable difference.
CCW holders are another matter, I concede
The article left out that the Newtown families were on hand for the occasion. They were also in Hartford to see the law passed that will limit the release of certain information to the public regarding the Sandy Hook investigation. Since Newtown is only 50 miles from Hartford, a ride on Air Force One wasn’t necessary.
I hope every one of those SOB’s (Newtown family members pushing unconstitutional laws) dies a painful death at the hands of one of the criminals they’re aiding.
It’s just a form of bribery. The cops go along with the legislature and governor and they get favors.
It’s a shame that cops can be bribed by giving them back their own rights. I remember when you couldn’t buy a cop for less than $25 a week.
But Ralph that was in the 60’s. Cost at least one hundred buck now.
Yup. Inflation is a b1tch.
Almost double that, tdiinva. $25 in 1960 dollars is equal to $196.39 in 2013 dollars.
I never knew a cop who was worth $169.39 per week.
but but the government of Connecticut IS the people of Connecticut, and that’s what they want, special rules for special people.
Another gem from the Connecticut General Assembly:
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/06/05/connecticut-senate-passes-bill-writing-wright-brothers-out-history/
What idiots! North Carolina sued and won once against CT about this same crap, I hope they do it again.
This jackass has been pushing this issue for 20years and every historian has shot it down because he has no proof.
Now, he has found some brainless twits it Hartford who also without evidence are passing another stupid bill!
Thank god there are public servants that know how to define reality to their benefit. Now, if they can just do something with that pesky PI thing… maybe round it to 3. That would make things much simpler. Dare we hope they can possibly suppress Euler’s number (e) and those hopelessly complicated and clearly irrational complex numbers? I mean, really, what’s the big deal of a square root of a negative number? I’m sure that 51% of the public would go along with it.
That really sucks about the .22s – it was the only semi-good news in the awful law. I know Stag was working on a new cool .22 for CT residents. Gone now I guess.
I was wondering about that latest change in the CT law while reading this article – http://gunmartblog.com/2013/06/04/stag-arms-ready-to-ship-modified-ct-legal-rifles/
From a quick read, it looks like .22s are back on the old 2 feaures test that applied to all scary rifles pre April 2013, so if they pin the stock and use a fixed compensator (instead of a flash suppressor) they should be ok. Hard to say for sure.
What Stag really needs to build is an AR-variant with a short-stroke piston and and an old-school rifle grip that does not protrude below the action. Sort of an AR/SCAR hybrid with no pistol grip. If you use the piston to eliminate the need for a buffer tube, then you can have an old-school grip without it being one of those California monstrosities.
If they want to be stupid and vote those idiots into office, thats on them. Keep that anti-constitution shit out of my state.
Think of it another way; this practically acknowledges that if the civilian (cop) has a modicum of training in handling a weapon then they can own the evil black rifles. Whether us civilians are essentially better trained than most cops is another argument.
Nice vacuum tube amp.
Well… lets all become police officers for a short time so we can continue to carry. Lets become state or federal representatives for a short time so we can have health care for life, and don’t forget we need a job at minimum at the county clerk’s so we can get a solid pension forever afterward.
Government: We are here to help and to serve.
…and I’m being served???
If vendors would just refuse to sell to these carve-out recipients, then this issue would be solved dam quick. If we can make it so that the “elite” can’t buy any firearms or ammo, thier attitudes would change. Lord knows that they wouldn’t spend even a second without being protected by a gun….
Hate cops. Got no use for them. Ban their guns, make them go on duty without them.
“We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal” and all that stuff. How do these carve outs stand up to constitutional scrutiny?
Because no cop has ever harmed an innocent?
With rates of self medicating, divorce, PTSD, domestic abuse, suicide, etc.. all being substantially higher in the LEO community than in the non-LEO community you’d think the pendulum would swing the other way.
Not that I want that pendulum swinging at all mind you. Just funny logic when people and politicians act on a belief that cops are somehow “better” or “safer.” Yes, I meant that line to read politicians are not people.
Yep, these CT asshats clearly had their heads buried in their own self pity when Christopher Dorner was doing his little number out west. Unbelievable.
Not one politician will give me a answer why law enforcement should be exempt from gun and magazine bans given the numerous cases of abuse and criminal activity by police officers. I`m sure these politicians knew about Drew Peterson, Manuel Pardo who robbed and murdered 9 people, the documented abuse of citizens by the Philadelphia police department, the case of Texas state troopers doing cavity searches on two women in public etc. Locally we had two Orlando police officers ordered to pay damages in civil court for body slamming a 80+ year old man and for pushing a woman down the steps. By the way they are still on the force. And these jackasses tell me they can trust the police with “assault” weapons but not civilians?
Don’t forget Tyler Peterson, a Sheriff’s deputy and part time cop who killed six people with an AR 15 or the NOPD cops who shot 6 innocent people at the Danziger Bridge and then attempted to cover up the crime.
Or Tamiekia Johnson, the CHP officer who murdered her husband with her departmentally issued gun, or Fullerton PD, who beat a homeless man to death, etc.
The dude in the photo is sporting and holding a vertical fore grip. Does anyone here find these actually aid in their gun handling or marksmanship?
I bought one some time back. I admit I had the tacticool bug. As soon as I took my first shot holding on to thing, I thought, “Yup, I’m a sucker.”
Anyone like them? If so, I got one to sell cheap!
MHO… They work great with the grip style Chris Costa has made popular…
If you live in Connecticut, you should ask your legislator why they voted to exempt law enforcement officers from the gun ban. They only have three ways to answer that question, a emotional response accusing you of being anti police, ignore the question or be truthful and say that the government can be trusted, you as a private citizen cannot be trusted. That is the message being sent by allowing police exemptions. Connecticut should no longer call itself the Constitution State.The state government has shown itself to have complete contempt toward the Constitution when the courts, the attorney general`s office and the commissioner of prisons decided that it was OK to torture a hunger striking prisoner by force feeding. That is a violation of the Eighth Amendment, but that was ignored by the courts. The state perjured themselves by claiming that if a prisoner was allowed to starve himself to death, riots would break out. (No such event has ever taken place in the United States) Whats next for Connecticut residents, no Fourth Amendment protections? Maybe freedom of speech will be restricted? Who knows, the Pandora`s box has been opened.
I have a suggestion for all freedom loving residents of Connecticut. Tape over the Constitution State slogan on your automobile license plate as a protest against oppression. They cannot prosecute you for that based on a United States Supreme Court ruling where a resident of New Hampshire was prosecuted for covering up the “Live Free Or Die” tag slogan. The court ruled that it was a legitimate First Amendment expression.
It would nice for states to apply this logic to retired and former military. I wouldn’t mind being able to have a m249 again or a 240 then again they should be available for all to enjoy, with proper restrictions of course.
All together now: “Some pigs is more equal than other pigs!”
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