Connecticut: Fight to Preserve Our Second Amendment Rights in Weston is Not Over

Tomorrow, February 7, the Weston Board of Selectmen will hold its regularly scheduled meeting at 7:30 p.m. to discuss proposed changes to the Town’s firearms ordinance.  Click here to view the meeting agenda.

Since the end of 2012, the Board has been making modifications to an ever changing ordinance that, if enacted, will impose unnecessary and onerous restrictions on law-abiding gun owners in Weston.  While the Board agreed to postpone the most egregious components of the drafted ordinance, the Board will continue to pursue an extremely restrictive and unconstitutional mandatory storage requirement for all firearms in Weston. 

As currently drafted, this ordinance would mandate that residents must keep their firearms “in a securely locked box constructed of steel or similar material.”  This is another micro-managing attempt by the Board to limit the rights of law-abiding citizens.  Everyone knows that firearms must be stored safety, particularly when housed with children, but it is NOT the Board’s business or role to dictate how people store things in their homes.

Your First Selectman Gayle Weinstein is aggressively leading the charge to disarm residents of Weston, and has even endorsed a state-level proposal to create a central database of all ammunition purchased!  During recent testimony regarding her proposals, she stated “As you [Connecticut General Assembly] begin to craft legislation or not, please ask yourselves the question that I ask myself about every vote on the board: Will you be able to sleep at night with the decisions you’ve made?”

Please attend the Board’s meeting and ask Gayle Weinstein how you are supposed to be able to sleep at night knowing your firearm is locked away and not readily available for self-defense use.

Not only will this mandatory storage requirement provide a false sense of security to Weston residents and put you and your loved ones at a disadvantage in a home invasion scenario, this proposal raises serious concerns that include:

• Could the Board be held liable if an individual is unable to properly defend his home because it was mandated his firearms must be stored away and not accessible for self-defense?
• Will the government conduct checks on law-abiding citizens to ensure enforcement?
• If individuals currently store their firearms in locked boxes made of wood or another material, will Weston provide vouchers so they can purchase a locked box made of steel or similar material?

If able, please attend this meeting tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. in the Meeting Room of the Town Hall located at 56 Norfield Road in Weston.  If you cannot attend the meeting, please call AND e-mail Town Selectmen TODAY and tell them to stop infringing on the rights of law-abiding citizens.  Their contact information is provided below: