House Republican Press Release

June 18, 2007

Press Office: 860-240-8700

REP. STRIPP SUPPORTS NEW FEDERAL GUN LAW AND RE-FUNDING GUN TASK FORCE

HARTFORD – State Rep. John Stripp (R-Easton, Redding and Weston) applauded a move by the U.S. House of Representatives’ to approve a gun control law which improves state reporting to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System for gun purchases.

The bill would require each state to share and report its data to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to stop gun purchases by people, including criminals and those adjudicated as mentally defective, who are prohibited from possessing firearms.

The bill is a compromise between the Gun Control advocates and the National Rifle Association (NRA). The NRA maintains this is a sensible law that does not disqualify anyone currently able to legally purchase a firearm.

“Recognizing that states should share and automate their criminal statistics with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) database, this law makes common sense,” Rep. Stripp said.

The Virginia Tech University shooting might have been avoided had if this law as in effect. The killer was able to purchase two guns he used in the rampage because the state of Virginia did not forward information regarding the mental capacity of the gun buyer to the national background check system.

Rep. Stripp said, “I implore the budget negotiators to appropriate $350,000 to $500,000 from the state budget to fund the state’s dormant Firearms Trafficking Task Force within the Department of Public Safety. Let us take serious action to reduce gun violence in our state. The additional funding would help with associated overtime costs, local officer stipends, equipment, training and undercover vehicles.”

When the State-Wide Firearms Trafficking Task Force was funded in 2000 took 379 guns off the streets of our cities in Connecticut. In 2001, without any funding 51 firearms where confiscated. The task force has conducted traces on 9,198 guns, an average of 1,533 per fiscal year. In 2002, it conducted the biggest number of traces 2,165 and in 2006, the number of traces was 1,135.

In addition, the firearms task force has actively “traced” all seized firearms in the state. This provides real time information to investigators about the origins of seized guns so that investigators can identify those who are responsible for diverting weapons into the illegal market.

“The escalation in gun violence in our major cities needs to be dealt with before our cities become uninhabitable. Reestablishing the gun trafficking task force is the one definite step we can take that can have an instant impact by taking illegal firearms off the streets and out of the hands of criminals and children,” Rep. Stripp said.