Community Corner

Durham Gun-Rights Supporter Testifies at Public Hearing

Monday's public hearing at the state Capitol attracted more than 2,000 people, including Stuart Keating, who called proposed legislation "a poorly veiled attempt at gun control."

 

On Tuesday, Patch reported on the testimony provided by Durham resident Lisa Davenport during Monday's public hearing on gun violence provention at the state Capitol.

Gun-rights supporter and Durham resident Stuart Keating also provided testimony, as follows:

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Good Evening, Members of the Gun Violence Prevention Working Group, 

This hearing is supposed to be about Prevention of Gun Violence. 

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How does liability insurance, Prevent Gun Violence?

How does a sales tax on the sale of ammunition at a rate of 50 percent, Prevent Gun Violence?

How does the purchasing all ammunition to be in person, Prevent Gun Violence?

How does purchasing, selling, donating, transporting, possessing, or using any gun except one made to fire a single round, Prevent Gun Violence?

How does prohibiting the possession of magazines that accept more than ten rounds, Prevent Gun Violence?

That being said, I am going to try to keep this as simple as I can. I could list hundreds slogans, facts and stats on the issue of gun controls to justify my feelings or our rights granted by the 2nd amendment and our state constitution, as I see them.

I am only going to address three proposed bills.

HB 5268, SB140

To require firearm owners to maintain liability insurance and establish a sales tax on the sale of ammunition at a rate of 50 percent and require all ammunition to be purchased in person.

For a starter this law may start a new culture in Connecticut, by compelling some honest gun owners who cannot afford insurance, to become criminals by breaking the law and hiding the existence their firearms.

The tax on ammunition would mean shooters would buy ammunition out of state and/or foster an ammunition black market. 

How much tax revenue would be lost to the state? 

SB 122 

 A class C felony offense for any person or organization to purchase, sell, donate, transport, possess, or use any gun except one made to fire a single round.

I called this a harebrained idea the first time I heard it and I stand by it. 

To start, there are many shooting sports that require more than a single round, Skeet, Trap, Sporting Clays, Action Pistol matches, Tactical Pistol, Tactical Shotgun, Tactical Rifle, Cowboy Lever Action Rifle Competition,  Cowboy Mounted Shooting, etc. 

So, will mean that if you live in Connecticut you are to buy your firearms out of state, store your firearms out of state, practice your sport out of state, all competitions will held out of state? You are denying the good citizens of Connecticut the ability to enjoy sports that involve firearms.  

SB 124 

Prohibit the possession of magazines that accept more than ten rounds.

If this is the only one of these three bills to pass, maybe just maybe the fear of the government will convince some people turn in their mags. 

Now here’s the kicker, the people you REALLY have to worry about, the criminals, the confused and the mentally disturbed, they are NOT going to turn in their magazines. 

I cannot fathom why the legislature would believe that prohibiting all guns except those made to fire only a single round, restricting the capacity of magazines, taxing ammo, and forcing people to buy liability insurance is a common sense approach to stop mass murders. 

This legislation is does nothing to prevent Gun Violence, it only harasses respectable citizens. 

Can you not see the problems are not the implements, firearms, magazines, and ammunition? 

The problem is with social misfits that are unstable. The legislature is looking to penalized good citizens who enjoy the shooting sports, and satisfy voters whose lack of understanding of the real problems, that are crying for “Gun Control”.  

Respectfully,

Stuart Keating 

 

There are an estimated eighty million responsible gun owners in our country, both men and women, who have firearms to protect their person, their families, their homes, and businesses, ------ who are now concerned about the freedom to enjoy their firearm related sports, because of a minuscule number of deranged murderers.

Not to trivialized these murders, but consider this, out of about 80 million gun owners only 37 murderers were involved in only 36 so called mass shootings, in the last 15 years, this includes Columbine in 1999.

 These proposed laws are a poorly veiled attempt at “Gun Control”:

Let’s presume these laws are passed that; ban guns or limit magazine sizes. The people who fear the Government are going to comply, people who do not trust the government will take their guns underground;      militias, criminals, and disturbed people will not comply or report that they have guns. 

So, the guns will NOT go away and we should now understand that the guns will be around, no matter what laws are passed. 

Again, the problems with these horrific murders are NOT about guns, it is about bad people who do not fit in civilized society.

Please do not move forward on these proposed bills.       

Thank you


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