Gun Group Files Emergency Motion Against Lamont In Federal Court

CONNECTICUT — The Connecticut Citizens Defense League has filed an emergency motion in Federal Court seeking an immediate status conference in its lawsuit against Gov. Ned Lamont and Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner James Rovella.

The Southbury-based gun advocacy group first filed their suit two months into the pandemic. State law requires that local law enforcement obtain a record of the fingerprints of a resident before granting a permit to purchase a firearm or ammunition. CCDL accused the state of interfering with that process.

"Last year, Governor Lamont issued an executive order which effectively shut down the system of fingerprinting individuals wishing to obtain such a permit, effectively preventing everyone in Connecticut who did not already possess a firearms permit from exercising his or her constitutional right to keep and bear arms," according to Holly Sullivan, CCDL president.

That executive order was rescinded in June 2020, following a suit brought in Federal Court against the governor and others by CCDL.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer said the governor's executive order would "categorically foreclose a person who does not already have a permit or certification from acquiring a handgun if the person’s fingerprints are not already on file. One cannot exercise the right to possess a handgun in the home for self-defense if one is prevented from acquiring a handgun in the first place."

Fingerprinting resumed for a time, according to Sullivan, but "Now, in open violation of that court order, the state has once again shut down the fingerprinting system in Connecticut." A recent computer upgrade by the state has made it "virtually impossible to purchase a firearm in Connecticut or for a federally licensed dealer to sell one," Sullivan said.

The websites and social media pages of local police departments began to advise residents that fingerprinting was unavailable due to technical problems last week. The problems began July 9, when the state shut down its database and background check system with plans to launch the new system on July 13. The Special Licensing and Firearms Unit system was restored one day later.

In a letter to Rovella delivered last week, Lawrence Keane, senior vice president for government and public affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation wrote: "Connecticut retailer members are extremely frustrated by the lack of adequate coordination and planning and wholly inadequate roll-out of the 'upgraded' system producing extended outages."

The state had been on its way to a record number of firearms sales for the year, having logged 163,000 background checks by the end of June, according to FBI data.

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CCDL also claims the state now makes it difficult for federal firearms licensees to connect with the state by telephone and get verbal authorization to sell a given firearm to a given buyer, as required by law.

The 36,000-member CCDL filed an Emergency Motion for Immediate Status Conference with the Court on Tuesday.

The Governor's Office could not be reached for comment.