The task force was formed in 2000 in response to surging gun violence. Three years later, its funding was chopped as state officials struggled to deal with an earlier fiscal fiasco. In 2007, another wave of urban shootings convinced lawmakers to restore the money. And now it's gone again, even though the gunfire continues to echo through Connecticut's cities. But state Public Safety Commissioner John A. Danaher III doesn't think the loss of the task force is anything to fret about.
"It was a tool for a problem that doesn't exist in that way anymore," Danaher said in a recent interview. "You just don't have organized firearms trafficking going on."
Others disagree.
Danaher's statements came as a shock to West Hartford Police Chief James J. Strillacci, a former president of the Connecticut Chiefs of Police Association.
"I don't know where he's getting his information," Strillacci said. "We know criminals are regularly getting guns. They're getting them somehow. ... Whether it's organized or disorganized, it's very effective."
Who do you think makes more sense, Danaher or Strillacci?
Here are some interesting statistics from the Task Force's earlier efforts.
According to the ATF, there were 1,563 guns seized and traced in Connecticut last year. Of the 779 where a state of origin could be identified, 478 came from this state. Florida led the list of outside states of origin with 34, followed by Virginia with 31 and Pennsylvania with 23.
Doesn't that sound like those reports which proved that OF THE MEXICAN GUNS TRACED, 90% came from the U.S.? In this case though, it sounds like a legitimate statistic proving that most of the guns used in crime in Connecticut come from Connecticut.
What do you make of that? Since they start out as legal property of some licensed gun dealer somewhere in the state, and presumably pass from him to another legal owner who passed the background check, how do they get into the criminal world? I'll tell you how. At some point, some legal honest upstanding citizen who owns the gun sells or gives it to a criminal. Of course that makes him a criminal, but like so many, he hasn't been caught yet and is masquerading as a good guy.
What's to be done? Obviously, background checks on every transfer.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
"I'll tell you how. At some point, some legal honest upstanding citizen who owns the gun sells or gives it to a criminal. Of course that makes him a criminal, but like so many, he hasn't been caught yet and is masquerading as a good guy."
ReplyDeleteThat's it of course. I mean criminals would never steal them or anything. Stealing is a crime after all.
he hasn't been caught yet and is masquerading as a good guy.
ReplyDeletePresumption of innocence? Due Process?
No wonder you're anti-2A MikeB, it fits in with your disdain for individual rights in general.
You know what we call people "masquerading as good guys?" Innocent citizens.
You act like there arent firearms sales BETWEEN criminals on the black market.
Background checks on every transfer, registration of guns, requiring guns be reported lost or stolen within 48 hours.
ReplyDelete"What's to be done? Obviously, background checks on every transfer."
ReplyDeleteSo you're saying Connecticut's gun problem is a long-gun issue?
http://crime.about.com/od/gunlawsbystate/p/gunlaws_ct.htm
"A permit to carry, permit to sell handguns, or handgun eligibility certificate is required to purchase a pistol or revolver.
It is unlawful to sell or permanently transfer a handgun to any person who is forbidden to possess a handgun, or to a person under 21.
No person, firm, or corporation shall sell or transfer any pistol or revolver unless an application provided by the Commissioner of Public Safety is filled out. There is a 2 week waiting period from the date of the application. "
Seems for handguns (which is what the gangs use) there is a universal background check system already in place.
Florida Verginia and Pennsylvania? Well Pen requires all handgun sales to go through a licensed dealer (Yep includes a NICS check...we can talk about the PA crime rate later) VA and FL just require you to show a valid state ID. Why? well its a Federal Felony to sell handguns out of state!
Care to explain why your proposition would work in any way Mike? Especially given that its already in place. It's in place here too.
Wanna talk about that?
Yes, Anonymous, you got the idea.
ReplyDelete"Yes, Anonymous, you got the idea."
ReplyDeleteHey MikeB302000, I got the idea too!
IN MY STATE!! Care to explain to me what fucking GOOD it does?
Guess what, many of the other states you listed ALSO have those fucking laws. Huh?
Oh I failed to mention that Virginia, while not a universal background check state, it does only allow the purchase of one-gun-a-month, unless you have a CCW permit (and therefore a universal background check)
Care to explain to me how this is any different than say if I bought an AR-15 with a bayonet lug and a flash hider, vs. one without?
Verdict is in, dumb laws don't work!
People who live under dumb laws that don't work are pissed!
"Background checks on every transfer, registration of guns, requiring guns be reported lost or stolen within 48 hours."
ReplyDelete1. The two bills in congress now HR 2324 and S 843 concerning the "gun show loophole" would affect gun private gun sales ONLY INSIDE A GUN SHOW.
If this becomes law, private sales OUTSIDE OF A GUN SHOW will not be affected in any way.
You can read the bills here...
I hope the Library of Congress is an acceptable information source for you.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.2324:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:SN00843:
I have already stated that these bills are impossible to comply with due to the laws of physics, try to find the parts that prompt me to claim that.
This is not due to my opinion or my feelings or my emotions.
It is due to me actually reading these monstrosities and using a little common sense.
Weer'd, Those "dumb laws" are saving lives in your state. You just don't want to admit it. No one ever said strict gun control laws would eradicate all gun violence, but they do help.
ReplyDeleteMike W. said, "You act like there arent firearms sales BETWEEN criminals on the black market."
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't do that, but you act like the firearms in criminal hands appeared there by magic. I'm talking about that transfer when they go from the good guys to the bad guys.
"Weer'd, Those "dumb laws" are saving lives in your state. You just don't want to admit it. No one ever said strict gun control laws would eradicate all gun violence, but they do help."
ReplyDeleteNobody can or will prove this. Not you, not Laci, not Mudrake, not any of your Euro-friends, not even people who's JOB is push these laws like Helmke and Sugarmann.
Don't you find that strange?
Meanwhile everywhere else where these dumb laws aren't in effect, or have been repealed people have become safer and we can, have and will again prove this.
Your above statement is no different than declaring the sky to be green, or the Earth to be 3,000 years old.
Give it the FUCK up!