Sen. Sampson Addresses Reports of Gov. Lamont’s Renewed Interest in Seizing Rifles of Law-Abiding Gun Owners

State Sen. Rob Sampson (R-Wolcott), member of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee, today responded to last week’s reports of Governor Lamont’s renewed interest in eliminating the state’s “grandfather” clause for the legal possession of AR-15-style rifles, which would result in the unconstitutional ‘taking’ of private citizens’ personal property.

“We continue to see how elected Democrats conflate so-called ‘gun violence’ with law-abiding citizens who own modern sporting rifles. The majority of gun violence in Connecticut is not committed by legal gun owners that lawfully purchased their firearms, much less those that own so-called ‘assault weapons.’ The data is clear that most crimes with firearms are committed by repeat criminals that illegally obtain their guns. This form of criminal activity is what I have been focused on combating my whole time in the legislature. What’s ironic is that while the Governor continues to target guns, his administration continues to be soft on criminals – including those guilty of crimes with guns. We need criminal control, not gun control,” he said.

In the 2022 legislative session, Sen. Sampson led the effort to block meaningless gun control plans in Governor Lamont’s signature gun violence legislation at the committee level, while helping to advance the part of the bill that contained Sampson’s own policy initiative that addresses a root cause of gun violence: trafficking.

“I will never fail to defend the rights of law-abiding gun owners,” said Sen. Sampson.

VIDEO:

Sen. Sampson Offers Real Solutions to CT Gun Violence – Targets Criminal Gun Traffickers (Judiciary Committee, 3/29/22)

Sen. Sampson Supports Law Abiding Firearm Owners, Corrects Gov.’s Onerous Gun Control Bill (Judiciary Committee, 3/31/22)