By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Less than a year after signing legislation he claimed would “strengthen the state’s gun violence prevention measures,” Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont is at it again, pushing another gun control bill, which would prohibit the sale of pistols which can be illegally converted to fire full-auto.
House Bill 5043 is also being called an Act Concerning the Manufacture, and Sale of Convertible Pistols. According to CTNewsjunkie.com, Lamont stated during a press event, “If you want to sell in Connecticut, your pistol cannot be designed to accept a switch that would convert it to an automatic weapon.”
However, there is already pushback from the Connecticut-based National Shooting Sports Foundation.
Mark Oliva, NSSF managing director of public affairs, noted the devices in Lamont’s crosshairs are already illegal. Known as “Glock switches,” the small attachments are illegally attached to Glock pistols, and the criminals responsible “have already shown a willful defiance of the law and will undoubtedly ignore this, should it pass.”
Republican lawmakers have also voiced opposition. Posting on Facebook, state Rep. Craig Fishbein stated, “Once again, rather than holding criminals accountable, Democrats are pushing to make it harder for legitimate manufacturers to sell their products in our state.”
In a Monday news release, Fishbein elaborated, “The governor’s latest proposal is another election year distraction, an attempt to blame a legitimate manufacturing industry for the failings of a legal system that too often allows violent criminals, including those who illegally used firearms during the commission of their crimes, back onto Connecticut streets. Forcing firearms manufacturers to modify their products solely due to criminal acts committed with their lawful products is a wild expansion of government’s power, and will establish a precedent that could have long lasting, negative effects on myriad industries like automobile, appliance, construction equipment manufacturers, and more.”
CTNewsjunkie.com says HB 5043 is “the latest effort by a Connecticut official against gun manufacturers.” It is really nothing new for anti-gunners to go after gun manufacturers, which is one reason American gun makers have moved some operations out of Connecticut and neighboring Massachusetts. Democrat policies focus more on firearms makers than on people who misuse firearms, shifting responsibility from perpetrators to law-abiding gun owners and gun makers.
