In a letter dated August 5th, Connecticut Carry through Attorney Rachel Baird put the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate on notice that we are seeking an FBI investigation of criminal deprivation of rights under color of law with regards to statements made during a news conference held August 2nd.
In the news conference, Senator Blumenthal and Senator Murphy expressed interest in pursuing legislation at the Federal level to remove the right of citizens to bear firearms who have a temporary restraining order issued against them. Playing to ignorance and emotion, the first-term Senators tried to convey a message that somehow violent offenders are still allowed to own firearms. But what they were really doing is saying that the due process protected under the 5th and 14th Amendment of the United States is somehow a ‘loophole’.
A temporary restraining order (or ex parte restraining order) is an immediate protective order issued by a single judge. These orders do not require a crime to have been committed and they have a relatively low burden of proof, being easy to obtain. A temporary restraining order is simply an accusation, not proof or even probable cause of wrongdoing. If such cause existed, criminal statutes exist for such a purpose.
Current Federal and State law only prohibit the possession of firearms after a person subject to the order has been served notice of an order and has had a chance to be heard, at which time the order can be stayed and is no longer ‘temporary’, or it can be dissolved. The reason for the delineation in the laws for a hearing and notice is because a person cannot ‘be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law’ - 5th Amendment nor ‘shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law’ -14th Amendment. The Senators apparently wish to take the basic right of due process away by allowing a single judge to remove a person’s liberty and property with a single court order and no chance to be heard, and no crime alleged.
To further exacerbate the issue, Connecticut Carry has been following leads and working on cases of abuse by the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection under Commissioner Reuben Bradford, where citizens have been threatened with arrest if they did not turn their firearms over upon the issuance of temporary restraining order. The State of Connecticut has been doing this without the proper legal authority to do so, and it appears that Senator Blumenthal and Senator Murphy are now working to make these unconstitutional mandates by DESPP legal instead of properly representing the citizens of Connecticut. This conflict of interest is especially interesting since Senator Blumenthal is the former Connecticut Attorney General who oversaw such measures being implemented by the DESPP.
Senator Blumenthal and Senator Murphy’s motives here must be questioned, and with it, their competency and credibility. A good, hard look at each Senator’s commitment to the Constitution which they affirmed in their oath of office is also in order.
Read the letter here: http://www.ctcarry.com/Document/Download/c916ee24-5588-4c72-87fe-1c375c49eab0