Connecticut Preparedness

[hayes1966]

Again this issue rears its ugly head! As we have in the past, NOW is the time to vehemently OPPOSE this Proposal! If you can't make the Public Hearing e-mail your legislator and the Committee stating your position. Included below is CCS testimony from last year and probably for this year.

S.B. No. 1017 AN ACT CONCERNING THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND HOMELAND SECURITY AND THE BOARD OF FIREARMS PERMIT EXAMINERS INTO THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, AND TRANSFERRING RESPONSIBILITY FOR AMUSEMENT PARK OVERSIGHT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER PROTECTION. To implement the Governor's budget recommendations. REF. PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY. OPPOSE. Public Hearing 02/22

Sec. 36. Subsection (a) of section 29-32b of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2011) : (a) There shall be established a Board of Firearms Permit Examiners, within the Department of Public Safety, for administrative purposes only, hereinafter referred to as the board, to be comprised of seven members appointed by the Governor to serve during his term and until their successors are appointed and qualify. With the exception of public members, the members shall be appointed from nominees of the Commissioner of Public Safety, the Connecticut State Association of Chiefs of Police, the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, The Connecticut State Rifle and Revolver Association, Inc., and Ye Connecticut Gun Guild, Inc., and each of said organizations shall be entitled to representation on the board. At least one member of the board shall be a lawyer licensed to practice in this state, who shall act as chairman of the board during the hearing of appeals brought under this section.

COALITION OF CONNECTICUT SPORTSMEN
P.O. Box 2506, Hartford, CT 06146, (203) 245-8076
www.ctsportsmen.com [email protected]

Testimony presented to the GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AND ELECTIONS COMMITTEE, MARCH 17, 2010
IN OPPOSITION to SB 28 AN ACT CONSOLIDATING STATE AGENCIES AND ELIMINATING CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE COMMISSIONS.
by Robert T. Crook, Director

SB 28 would have an immeasurable negative impact on Connecticut's law-abiding gun owners by transferring operations of the Board of Firearm Permit Examiners (BFPE) to the Department of Public Safety. “(a) There shall be established a Board of Firearms Permit Examiners, within the Department of Public Safety, for administrative purposes only, hereinafter referred to as the board” (Sec 1.)
The Board is the primary appeals process for those aggrieved by denial or revocation of Permits by police agencies. The oversight board was established 40 years ago as an independent agency due to police abusing their discretion by formulating their own rules and standards for firearms permits. The 7 unpaid volunteers receive NO compensation, and a secretary and office expenses costs the state little less than $100,000. Placing the Board under the Dept of Public Safety and subordinating the Board to the State Police would save zero dollars.
Putting the BFPE under the State Police will allow them to control what is established as an unbiased review of police actions and due process. The State Police also will be able to rewrite the board’s regulations, the rules that govern the board’s procedures. Some police prefer not to issue permits to civilians and clearly regard the board as an adversary; the enmity was intensified recently when a member of the board sued the State Police in Federal court in connection with his own permit. We consider this issue as the first step toward the complete elimination of the oversight board, which many police regard as a nuisance at best.
Another serious factor is the potential loss of the single secretary. Were she replaced with another, the administrative knowledge and institutional memory of this long-term employee would be lost causing a more lengthy appeal process (currently 18 months) and more delay.
Most important, it would lead to a reduction in, if not an elimination of, the inherent fairness of the Board’s operating principles which was put in place by the legislature to function as a Civilian Review Board. The public perception of the Board, as an independent autonomous body free from oversight and control of the DPS or the State Police, where any citizen can get a fair and impartial hearing, will be destroyed.

If approved, an applicant who is denied a pistol permit would have to appeal to the very body, the Department of Public Safety, which rejected the permit. The transfer of this currently independent board will make it harder for law abiding gun owners to obtain pistol permits if they have been revoked or denied without proper cause. We’ve heard of putting the fox into the chicken coop; this is putting the chickens into the fox’s den.
We would predict more problems and costs to citizens, municipalities and the state were this transfer implemented.
Thank you.
PUBLIC SAFETY & SECURITY Members 2011-12
SENATORS HARTLEY, (Chair), 20th District; DAILY, (Vice Chair), 33rd; CASSANO, 4th.

SENATOR GUGLIELMO, (Ranking Member), 35th District; WITKOS, 8th District.

REPRESENTATIVES DARGAN, (Chair), 115th District; JUTILA, (Vice Chair), 37th; BOUKUS, 22nd; CLEMONS, 124th; ESPOSITO, 116th; GONZALEZ, 3rd; KINER, 59th; KIRKLEY-BEY, 5th; MIKUTEL, 45th; ORANGE, 48th; ROBLES, 6th; ROY, 119th; ROVERO, 51st; .

REPRESENTATIVES GEIGLER, (Ranking Member), 138th District; ADINOLFI,103rd; BACCHIOCHI, 52nd; DAVIS, 57th; GREENE, 105th; REBIMBAS, 70th; YACCARINO, 87th;
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Room 3600, LOB 860-240-0570
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