CT “Assault Weapon” Letter Developments

14
CT “Assault Weapon” Letter Developments

CT Assault Weapons Letter

UPDATE:

A recent article in the Manchester (Conn.) Journal Inquirer confirms many of Connecticut’s gun owners are indeed set to receive a letter from the state.

A letter will be sent to many gun owners who missed the Jan. 1, 2014 deadline to register their “assault weapons” and “high-capacity magazines”, according to the article:

The state now holds signed and notarized letters saying those late applicants own rifles and magazines illegally.

But rather than turn that information over to prosecutors, state officials are giving the gun owners a chance to get rid of the weapons and magazines.

According to the article, there was a limited amnesty for some late filers due to extenuating circumstances (the entire article can be read here). The state accepted registrations postmarked Jan. 4, 2014, as long as it believed they had been signed by Jan. 1.

A letter was released earlier this week, purporting to be the one the Connecticut State Police will send to the tardy gun registrants.

The validity of the letter at one point was called into question when Gun Digest contacted the Connecticut’s Special Licensing and Firearms Unit. A spokesperson for the department said no such letter had been sent from their office.

Ed Jacvino, however, shines some light on what the letter might be that hit the Internet.

The Journal Inquirer reporter who wrote the article documenting the state’s plans couldn’t vouch for the authenticity of the letter. But he believes it might be an early draft of what gun owners will receive. And he is certain the language to sell, destroy or move out of state the firearms and magazines in question in the letter is accurate.

In an email to Gun Digest, Jacvino said:

I have a feeling that you're looking at a draft of the letter that was going to be released before they reached an administrative decision to extend the deadline.

I don't know if a letter has been finalized yet. I was told last week that it wasn't finished. But I imagine whatever they do send will be similar.

The sell, destroy or move out of state language is accurate, and I'm told that's what it will say.

The letter wouldn't be dated Jan. 2 though. And it might include some explanation of the changes they made (namely accepting applications after Jan. 1 if they were signed and notarized by Dec. 31 and postmarked by Jan. 4).

Feb. 26, 2014:

A letter apparently mailed from the Connecticut State Police to residents who attempted to register their “assault weapons” and “large capacity magazines” but missed the Jan. 1, 2014, deadline has gun owners across the Internet up in arms.

The validity of the letter, however, has been called into question.

A spokesperson contacted by Gun Digest for Connecticut's Special Licensing and Firearms Unit said the letter was not sent from their office. And there are a number of news accounts and government documents that also question the letter's authenticity.

According to an article on the New Haven Register website, Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy had announced plans for amnesty for gun registrations that arrived in the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) office after the Jan. 1 deadline.

In a Feb. 13 letter from the governor's office to DESPP Commissioner Dora B. Schirro, Malloy advised clemency for firearms registrations received after the Jan. 1 deadline. The letter also stipulated the department's discretion to accept tardy applications.

“Consistent with the Act, DESPP may choose to accept applications received after January 1, 2014, if the department has reason to believe that an applicant complied with the terms of the Act by attempting to submit the application on or before January 1, 2014, even if the application was not received by DESPP due to circumstances beyond the applicant’s control,” the letter from Luke Bronin, the general counsel to the Office of the Governor, read.

The commissioner of the DESPP agreed. According to a Feb. 14 letter, Dr. Dora B. Schriro wrote her department would accept the applications if it was believed an applicant attempted to submit before Jan. 1 or that it was received late due to circumstances beyond the applicant's control.

The questionable letter set the online gun world on fire, with scores taking to social media to sound off. Given the controversial gun legislation that passed in Connecticut in 2013, the document touched a sensitive spot among firearms enthusiasts.

The letter also hit the Internet just weeks after many news outlets reported thousands of Connecticut residents had failed to register their firearms.

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14 COMMENTS

  1. It may not be politicly correct, but doesn’t it seem like 375000 armed individuals would be able to put down the aggression of a few mamby pamby politicions by just telling them “Hell No” . We are only as weak as we let them make us feel. Our government is here to do our bidding, not the other way around. Our rights are enshrined in the constitution. These folks have only the rights we give them. If we don’t stand up for ourselves, no one else will. Hitler disarmed the populous before marching over their dead bodies. Just a thought.

  2. Assault weapons? Vaguely worded, isn’t it? Lets see…..your hammers, knives, baseball bats, rolling pins, autos, lop off your hands, and feet, (my) wife’s tongue (deadly)….etc., etc.Once it starts….it doesn’t end.

  3. ITS SICKENING, AND THE WORST THING IS, IT SEEMS AS THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT ? WE ALL TALK ABOUT IT, WE ALL FOR THE MOST PART, MAJORITY SPEAKING, HATE IT ! BUT WHAT CAN WE DO ? I HAVE SEEN IT, READ ABOUT IT ! THOUGHT ABOUT IT, WHERE DO WE START ? ITS OBVIOUS VOTING DOESNT DO IT, WHAT ARE THOSE ELECTED OFFICIALS THINKING ? CANT THE READ ? DONT THEY SEE FOR THE MOST PART, WE DONT WANT THIS ? SOMEBODY NEEDS TO COME UP WITH SOMETHING, BUT NOBODY SEEMS TO HAVE ANY IDEAS

  4. ITS SICKENING, AND THE WORST THING IS, IT SEEMS AS THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT ? WE ALL TALK ABOUT IT, WE ALL FOR THE MOST PART, MAJORITY SPEAKING, HATE IT ! BUT WHAT CAN WE DO ? I HAVE SEEN IT, READ ABOUT IT ! THOUGHT ABOUT IT, WHERE DO WE START ? ITS OBVIOUS VOTING DOESNT DO IT, WHAT ARE THOSE ELECTED OFFICIALS THINKING ? CANT THEY READ ? DONT THEY SEE FOR THE MOST PART, WE DONT WANT THIS ? SOMEBODY NEEDS TO COME UP WITH SOMETHING, BUT NOBODY SEEMS TO HAVE ANY IDEAS

  5. Firearms registration has never been a good idea, and for a sosciety such as
    ours has always led to some type of revolution. The first step being court
    action against it, the next being removal of any politician or public official
    who supports it, then removal of any negative Supreme Court Justice that
    is prone to support rules that favor registration, and finally other actions that
    might be much more stern against such laws and through your local governments.

    Remember, that is something the British were attmpting here when they marched
    to Concord to confiscate a store of guns and munitions there. Of course, they
    were discouraged on Lexington Green that slowed up their progress, and soon
    was to alter their thinking. So, here we find ourselves again, 210 years later, with
    the start in that same direction with our laws.

    We also must remember that numerous such types of dictatorial governments
    who enacted such laws (such as Nazi Germany, and Communist states) also
    employed a tactical manuever called ‘controlled revolution’, which is a very
    effective method by which to control people and stop any effective revolution.
    Those who do not know about, or study such tactics are doomed with any type
    of revoultion. Is anyone in here a real tactition? Or are we nothing more than
    just a bunch of Mortimer Snerds?

    • The Battles at Lexington and Concord began early morning on April 19, 1775. They culminated with King George’s redcoats and mercenaries in retreat from the Patriots in pursuit. My abacus tells me that is just shy of 239 years ago. The Bill of Rights was Ratified [by Virginia] on Dec. 15, 1791 and became the original ten Articles of The Amendments to The Constitution Of The United States; some 16+ years later. There have been an additional 17 actions that resulted in Amendments to the Constitution since that time. Some added Amendments, some changed wording of existing Amendments, BUT there has not been ANY changes made to the ORIGINAL Bill Of Rights. What a great testament to the intelligence and foresight of our Founders !

      • Yes, Smitty6398, and I stand corrected on the time. My mind was lost with
        some pain from a recent surgery, and I just didn’t think well about how
        many years it had been. It was difficult enough to even keep my typing
        and grammar correct.

        You are also correct in the intelligence and foresight of our founding
        forefathers. Isn’t is so very unfortunate today that absolutely none of
        our political ‘dictators’ are anywhere near as ‘common sense’ smart?
        Along the line we have allowed for the twist of President Lincoln’s
        words to what we hear today: “What is good for business is good for
        the country.” Unfortunately, that isn’t what Lincoln had said. He said:
        “What is good for the people is good for the country.” What is good
        for business is never good for the people, and therefore, not our
        country. That is just part of why our politicians today are no where as
        intelligent as our founding forefathers. They only act on things that
        are best for only the upper 8% of the population. Due to this type of
        thinking we are no longer a “Government of the people, by the people,
        and for the people.”

        I wonder why we don’t get moving on petitions to remove them all
        from their cush jobs?

  6. I never thought I would live to see the day that this happened…confiscation of our guns. I am 64 y.o. and in the past thought that when people wrote about confiscation …they were being a bit paranoid. History repeata itself. Every dictator or regime that was out to take over political power confiscated guns of the civilians( Russia, Italy, Hitler, Stalin, etc…). It s happening now…in CT and in NY where I have the unfortunate luck to live. I cut my magazines down to 7 rounds to conform to the law, and sold my bull pup stocks so they don’t look ” assault like”. Don’t Republicans vote? We have had 8 years of Democratic Socialism. Doesn’t any one know that Socialism FAILED? Look at Russia that was once the USSR. Ask the former Soviet Republics if they want to go back to Socialism?!…I think not. Europe is in quick sand of their own making. Socialism is destroying the work ethic of the masses as each new generation takes Socialistic handouts. Like Obama is doing…”distributing the wealth” as Karl Marx, the father of Communism once wrote. Immigrants are flocking to these countries for the “goodies’ and countries are floundering under their own bureaucratic weight.
    Its apparent the Democratic party in the USA ignores this as they pursue their Socialistic agenda. UNless Republicans and Independents WAKE UP and vote the Dems out…we are going the way of Russia and Europe…to Socialistic disaster….

  7. “Infringed” means undermining, limiting and/or encroaching upon. Period. There is no “interpretation” necessary.
    Every single member of congress and the entire cabinet SWORE an oath to uphold our Constitution, not INFRINGE on it in ANY way.
    Certainly does smell like treason to me.

  8. “This year will go down in history. For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future!”
    -Adolph Hitler, 1935, on The Weapons Act of Nazi Germany

  9. Registration is the first step toward CONFISCATION. We’ve seen in all over the world in the last century, and now Connecticut is trying to do it to their citizens. If they succeed in their efforts, and overcome a challenge in SCOTUS, the “domino effect” will begin. “In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.”

    They WILL come for the registered gun owners someday… REVIVE THE U.S. CONSTITUTION AND THE BILL OF RIGHTS!

  10. A patent and DELIBERATE attack on the second amendment, in DIRECT violation of the constitution.
    These laws are NO law at all as per the constitution. Our rights PREEXIST the constitution and can’t be regulated in ANY way.

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