Governor Dannel Malloy has once again announced that, through his emotional puppet Lt. Gov. Wyman, he will pursue legislation that would erode the right to due process in Connecticut, as well as the rights of the citizens of Connecticut to armed defense. His first effort towards this end for this legislative session will be HB 5450.
Evident in the last legislative session, Malloy and Wyman’s proposal was to prohibit possession and confiscate the means to armed defense from anyone accused of any number of alleged ‘crimes’ in domestic violence situations without any due process; whether it be before a judge, jury or with any public transparency. This would also cast a broad net to sneakily and permanently confiscate the weapons and magazines that Malloy and the legislature sought to ban in the 2013 Gun Ban, as once they are transferred from the owner, they cannot be transferred back to the owner.
In the last legislative session in 2015, we watched as Governor Malloy, Lieutenant Governor Wyman and complicit members of the legislature were ‘educated’ on how Temporary (Ex Parte) Restraining Orders are supposed to work, how things currently work, and why what they want to achieve is not only unconstitutional, but dangerous. Unfortunately, ‘educated’ is likely the wrong word to use, as it appears that the teachings were largely over their heads, or were aimed at people that had already made up their mind to be malicious and hurt the innocent people of Connecticut.
A major issue that we have noticed with these bills is that the politicians supporting them usually have no actual knowledge about the topics they are trying to address. In 2015, this was apparent as legislator after legislator got reprimanded in public testimony for their lack of understanding of the Risk Warrant Statute (CGS 29-38c) which already addresses the problems described by Malloy and Wyman, while still allowing for due process. And it has been in place for 16 years.
“Governor Malloy has made it clear that he expects to confiscate arms and property from Connecticut residents without oversight, means of appeal or basic due process. His proposals to confiscate arms from people in Connecticut with nothing more than an accusation in the form of a Temporary Restraining Order is very dangerous and disturbing. Connecticut Carry will do everything within its purview to stop Malloy from implementing these plans.” – Connecticut Carry President Rich Burgess
“Because the Risk Warrant statute already addresses removing firearms from people determined to be a threat to themselves or others, and provides for due process protections of their rights, modifying the procedures for restraining orders would be unnecessary and harmful to lawful, non-dangerous citizens of Connecticut.” – Connecticut Carry Director Matthew Tyszka
