Community Corner

Sen. Bartolomeo Votes for Bipartisan Firearms, Child Safety Legislation

The following is a press release from Meriden Sen. Dante Bartolomeo's office on Wednesday

State Senator Dante Bartolomeo (D-Meriden) today voted for a bipartisan and comprehensive package of firearms, school security and mental health laws designed to increase public safety in the wake of the tragic Newtown shootings last December. 

New public safety provisions that Sen. Bartolomeo advocated for and which are part of the new bill include new school safety standards, stronger penalties for so-called “straw” purchases of firearms, and changes to the state’s Earned Risk Reduction Credit (“early release”) program.

“The mass murders in Newtown prompted a great deal of reflection in Connecticut and across America, and I believe it was our obligation as a legislature to strengthen our public policies on firearms safety, school security and mental health treatment. This bill strikes a good balance on all fronts,” Sen. Bartolomeo said. “I’m especially pleased that we’re addressing the issue of school security – which I heard so much about in my meetings throughout the district – and that we’re increasing penalties on people who illegally buy guns for others.”  

Today’s bill establishes a “School Safety Infrastructure Council” which will develop basic safety standards for school building projects, authorize $15 million inbonding for a school security infrastructure competitive grant program to reimburse towns for upgrades to security infrastructure, and require security and safety plans be developed at each school. 

Sen. Bartolomeo – who was a member of the School Security Working Group of the legislature’s Bipartisan Task Force on Gun Violence Prevention and Children’s Safety – met with parents, teachers, principals, superintendents, mayors and police chiefs throughout her district to discuss ways to improve student and employee safety in Connecticut’s public schools. A common theme in these discussions was for the state to create minimum security standards for new school construction and renovations, much as the state has standards for handicapped access and energy efficiency in new buildings.   

“This bill helps school districts looking for guidance with existing and future school buildings to harden their physical plants, but not their learning environments,” Sen. Bartolomeo said.

Today’s bill also doubles the penalty -- to a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison (two years of which cannot be suspended) and a $10,000 fine -- for so-called “straw purchases” of firearms, in which a  person who is legally allowed to purchase a firearm buys a handgun or a rifle for a person who is not legally permitted to acquire any of these firearms in Connecticut.  

“Buying a firearm for someone prohibited from owning one should make the purchaser almost as responsible for any crime that’s committed as the person who actually pulls the trigger,” said Sen. Bartolomeo, who earlier this year introduced legislation seeking tougher penalties for straw purchases (Senate Bill 740). 

The bill also strengthens Connecticut’s Risk reduction Credit Program by ensuring that all violent criminals must serve at least 85 percent of their original sentence, and that any credits they accrue cannot reduce that percentage. 

“This change is a start, and an improvement, but I would like to see the legislature go further in future sessions by excluding violent offenders from the program,” said Sen. Bartolomeo, who had advocated for a suspension of the early release program and the complete elimination of early release credits for violent criminals (Senate Bill 678).   
Other highlights of the bill include: 

  • Establishes a first in the nation statewide dangerous weapon offender registry for law enforcement use, whereby individuals must register annually with the state for 5 years if they have been convicted of any of more than 40 enumerated weapons offenses. They must keep their registration address current at all times, and must check in once per year with local law enforcement in the town where they currently reside. 
  • Requires the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to work in consultation with the state Department of Education to create a Mental Health First Aid program for certain school staff, which allows them to recognize signs of mental health problems and connect those students with services.
  • Requires universal background checks for the sale of all firearms, including all gun sales between private parties or at gun shows.
  • Expands the scope of Connecticut’s firearms safe storage law to include situations where the firearm owner knows that any resident of the premises where the firearm is stored is ineligible to possess a firearm under state or federal law, or
that a resident of the premises poses a risk of imminent personal injury to himself or herself or to other individuals. 
  • Establishes the offense of illegal possession of ammunition, so that an individual who is ineligible to possess a firearm will also now be ineligible to possess any ammunition.


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