Roland Lemar

This week I joined my colleagues at a press conference in New Haven to announce new legislation to combat gun violence and make our communities safer. The legislation includes a ban on so-called ghost guns and bump stocks, a device used in the killing of 58 people last year in Las Vegas.

For decades, we’ve been waiting for the federal government to get its act together and come up with concrete, common-sense gun legislation that protects our citizens while preserving the rights of individuals. Sadly, we have waited in vain.

Thankfully, we’ve had strong leadership in Connecticut that has helped us become one of the strongest states for public safety, but now we must seek new legislation because of other products in the marketplace that can be used by people who have no regard for the lives of human beings.

Bump stocks are mechanisms that attach to a semi-automatic weapon and allow it to fire faster, mimicking the firing rate of an automatic weapon.

Ghost guns are weapons that are partially completed and can’t fire, so they don’t meet the federal definition of a firearm. They have no serial or registration numbers that law enforcement uses to trace firearms, and they can be purchased online by felons or people with psychological problems. The firearm can be made operational by modifications made at home or in a workshop.

These products pose a real threat to our communities and we must pass this new legislation.

For more details, watch this video of the press conference.