Lawmaker Proposes Publicizing Gun Owners' Names

Lawmakers across the state are taking on gun control issues in the aftermath of the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on Dec. 14.

State Rep. Stephen Dargen, a Democratic legislator from West Haven, wants the names and addresses of about 170,000 handgun permit holders in the state to be made public.

Names of gun owners are now confidential, but Dargen believes if people know how many guns are spread across communities, they’ll be safer.

State Senator Martin Looney, of New Haven, is proposing ammunition control legislation, which would prohibit anyone barred from owning a gun from owning bullets or any other kind of ammunition.

“A gun without ammunition is only a club. We really need to restrict access to ammunition,” Looney said.

Some gun owners and advocates feel that the federal law that bans the sale of ammunition to felons is enough and enacting it on the state level won’t be effective.

Rich Burgess, president of Connecticut Carry, a gun rights lobbying group, said he  is dumbfounded by this bill.

“Don’t penalize hundreds of millions of gun owners for the actions of a mad man for reasons that can’t be explained,” Burgess said.

Looney says he hopes to have this passed by February or March.

He will introduce the bill during the new session, which begins on Jan 9.

 

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