Senator Frantz Speaks About Safe Storage Proposal [WFSB]
January 29, 2013Article as it appeared on the WFSB website on January 28, 2013
State senator proposes stricter gun storage laws
By Matt Campbell
GREENWICH, CT (WFSB) – One Connecticut lawmaker is calling for stricter gun storage laws following the Newtown school shooting.
State Sen. L. Scott Frantz, whose district includes Greenwich and Stamford and New Canaan, is proposing stricter laws for how firearms are stored in people’s homes.
“This would’ve made it harder for (Adam) Lanza,” said Frantz, who told Eyewitness News he owns a gun himself.
On Dec. 14, Lanza had two pistols and an AR-15 when he entered Sandy Hook Elementary School and in just a matter of minutes, he fired multiple rounds, killing 20 children and six adults. Before the school shooting, he shot his mother four times.
“It’s something that does not exist on the books today, which is kind of surprising,” Frantz said.
Frantz said he wants homes with violent histories to have to store their guns in a safe just like homes with children. Only homes with children under 16 are required to do that.
“If you’re a responsible parent and you know you have a problem in a household, with a potentially violent person, and you lock the firearms up, you should hide the key in a place where no one knows where it is,” he said.
The bill, which is being backed by several members on the public health committee, has its critics too. Some fault Frantz for not explicitly defining “violent histories” or what would fall under its umbrella.
“When we start doing things to people who aren’t guilty of a crime, but have to live with someone with a mental illness, I think it becomes a very slippery slope,” said gun owner Mark Capaldo of Wolcott.
Frantz told Eyewitness News that he is getting support from politicians on both sides of the aisle. He’s hoping this bill will be taken up by the end of next month.