A committee narrowly endorsed loosening a firearms restriction put in place after the 2012 Newtown school shooting.
The bill would increase the maximum allowed capacity of firearm magazines from 10 rounds to 15. The lower limit was set after the mass shooting that killed 26 students and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School, using gun magazines that held about 30 rounds.
“It's a slap in the face to our community and the families that were impacted by this horrific violence,” said Newtown Action Alliance chairwoman Po Murray.
In a statement, the Second Amendment group Connecticut Citizens Defense League praised the bill as a huge step in the right direction. Gun enthusiasts had flooded the Public Safety committee with written testimony in favor of bigger firearm magazines.
“In the wake of Sandy Hook, some people's opinions of firearms changed,” said Republican Public Safety Committee member Craig Fishbein. “Some solidified going after gun owners.”
A time-saver or a lifesaver?
The current bill was approved by the Public Safety Committee in a 15-14 vote on March 18. Most of the panel’s Democrats were opposed, but Democratic committee co-chair Patrick Boyd and Democratic vice-chair Michael DiGiovancarlo voted with many Republicans in favor of the legislation.
Boyd’s spokesperson referred questions to Greg Howard, the committee’s ranking House Republican.
During debate over the proposal, Howard said many guns come with magazines larger than the existing Connecticut limit, and have to be altered for sale in the state, making them more expensive. Howard also said he sometimes takes his teenage sons to an outdoor gun range and allowing larger capacity, 15-round magazines would make that easier.
“It gets dark early around here in the wintertime, so constantly trying to reload a 10 round magazine for a man trying to spend some time with his sons or a woman trying to spend time with their daughters, [allowing larger magazines would] make it a bit more convenient for sportsmanship,” Howard said.
But gun safety advocates say that convenience is exactly why the state limits on gun magazines were needed.
“Firearms equipped with large capacity magazines are the weapons of choice in the vast majority of mass shootings because they allow the shooter to fire more bullets in less time,” said Connecticut Against Gun Violence spokesperson Stacey Mayer, in written testimony to the committee.
“A shooter can fire repeatedly without stopping to reload their weapon, increasing their ability to injure and kill more people,” Mayer said. “Often that pause for reloading can mean the difference between life and death, offering potential victims a moment to flee and escape.”
Huge obstacles ahead
The bill faces long odds in the Democratic-controlled General Assembly and other barriers to implementation.
The state public safety commissioner is questioning a provision of the bill that would make it easier for shooting ranges to sell ammunition. Commissioner Ronnell Higgins said there was no way specified in the law for a range to confirm if the person buying the ammo is legally eligible to do so. Higgins said his agency would also need state funding for staff to update their records on which magazines were under or over the new limit.
If passed, the bill would also allow people who owned large capacity magazines before the 10 round limit went into effect to sell them to each other.
“I don't anticipate that it's ever going to pass the full legislature,” Howard said. “In fact I think it'll probably never get called for a vote in the house. But to have the conversation and have folks think a little more critically about it I think is important.”
