Press Release: Nearly four months after the tragic school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School the Connecticut General Assembly early this morning approved sweeping changes to Connecticut’s gun laws while also strengthening school security and mental health statutes.

Despite many positive aspects of the bill, opponents of the legislation fear the bill goes too far in eroding constitutional rights with questionable improvements to public safety. Namely, the bill bans hundreds of guns in addition to the list of weapons currently banned, and requires residents to register these banned weapons in order to keep them. Failure to register them can lead to an infraction for the first offense and felony charges for the second. The bill also requires the registration of all shotguns and rifles. These banned weapons can only be disposed of by selling them out of state or to a dealer, and can be transferred to heirs upon death. It also bans the sale or purchase of large capacity magazines that are defined as containing more than ten rounds and creates new registration requirements for existing items that will now fall under the ban.

Deputy House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora (R- North Branford) called the vote one of the toughest of his career but ultimately voted “no” because he said the focus of legislative action should have been on those in need of mental health treatment, not on law-abiding gun owners.

“Obviously with the memory of Sandy Hook weighing heavily on our hearts, we all want to do something positive that will prevent future mass killings,” Candelora said. “Unfortunately, this bill does not accomplish that goal and these regulatory changes expose most individuals who have a gun permit to felony charges if they fail to register their weapons and magazines or miscount how many bullets they put in their gun.”

Candelora said there are aspects of the bill he supports such as universal background checks for the sale of all firearms and the expansion of safe storage laws when an at-risk person is in the home. Additionally, Candelora said he was happy to see increased penalties for many firearms trafficking and illegal possession offenses and hopes to see the increased penalties enforced.

“We need to do a better job of identifying these at-risk or mentally ill individuals earlier, prevent them from obtaining weapons, and provide appropriate treatment,” added Candelora.

Candelora said the improvements to mental health access are positive, but incremental. He said he believes the most effective way to prevent future mass killings by deranged individuals would be to put more focus on improving our mental health system.

The bill passed in the senate by a vote of 26 to 10 and passed in the House by a vote of 105 to 44. The Governor is expected to sign the legislation on Wednesday.

Rep. Candelora represents the 86th District communities of Durham, Guilford, North Branford and Wallingford.