Connecticut: Microstamping and Ammunition Serialization (Registration) Bills to be Heard in Committee Next Week!

Please Contact the Joint Judiciary Committee Today!

The anti-gun push is on in Hartford. This week, two proposals very dangerous to gun owners were "raised" and have now placed on the Joint Judiciary Committee’s schedule to be heard on Monday, March 17 at 12:00 p.m.

Raised Bill No. 603 would require all ammunition sold in Connecticut to be coded with an individual serial number (ammunition serialization) and entered into a statewide database at the time of sale.  Encoded ammunition would be registered to the purchaser and would include the date of transaction, the purchaser’s name, date of birth, driver’s license number, and the serial number of the ammunition. All unserialized ammunition would have to be forfeited.  Not only would this measure cause enormous increases in the cost of ammunition, but it could lead to the establishment of a database of ammunition consumers and ultimately the cessation of the sale of ammunition in Connecticut. 

If that weren't enough, this legislation actually exposes gun owners to risk of criminal prosecution without them even knowing it! There is no way for the ammunition consumer to be assured that the serial number imprinted on the box matches the serial number on the rounds inside.  Even if the industry can or will produce this ammunition exclusively for Connecticut, the consumers will be required to register ammunition purchases and then blindly trust that the number etched on the "base of the bullet projectile" is accurately represented on the box in which it is sold.  Since the "base of the bullet projectile" is necessarily obscured by the cartridge case, it is impossible for the consumer to know if he or she has accurately "registered" their purchase.  

Raised Bill No. 607 would seek to ban the sale of semi-automatic handguns not equipped with so-called "microstamping" technology.  Microstamping is a failed technology that would require identifying marks to be etched into the firing pin and breech face of a firearm.  The technology can easily be defeated with common household tools, has no public safety value, and adds substantially to the cost of the firearm. 

Raised Bill No. 607 doesn’t stop there!  It would also outlaw the private sale or transfer of long guns.