SCHOOL SHOOTINGS SERVE AS PRETEXT FOR GUN BANS TARGETING THE AMERICAN CITIZENRY.

SINCE THE SANTA FE, TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTER DID NOT USE A SEMIAUTOMATIC WEAPON TO KILL OR INJURE HIS VICTIMS, WILL ANTIGUN GROUPS NOW SEEK TO BAN ALL FIREARMS?

Antigun groups must be throwing a temper tantrum. When the Santa Fe High School shooter committed his horrific act of murder and mayhem in May 2018, he had the temerity to use the wrong weapons. Antigun groups fully expected the shooter to destroy innocent lives utilizing a semiautomatic long gun— a firearm often referred to by the politically charged but specious expression, ‘assault weapon’—thereby keeping with the antigun zealots’ running narrative. But the shooter killed or seriously injured innocent students, teachers, and a police officer, with a shotgun and with a revolver, not an "assault weapon." Moreover, the weapons utilized by the shooter did not belong to the shooter and the shooter did not procure them from a gun dealer, through the internet, or through a third party at a gun show. No! The weapons belonged to the shooter’s father who had failed to properly secure his weapons from his severely mentally disturbed son. The failure of parental responsibility, here, is, in the first instance, where blame for the tragedy rests and where blame should properly be placed.

WHAT WEAPONS, SPECIFICALLY, DID THE SHOOTER USE IN COMMITTING HIS HORRIFIC ACT?

Specifically, the shooter utilized his father’s Remington model 870 pump action, manually operated shotgun, along with his father’s .38 caliber revolver to maim, injure, and kill innocent people. The police have not, apparently, identified, or otherwise officially released  the specific make and model number of the .38 caliber handgun utilized by the gunman as of the posting of this article. No matter. It is clear enough that the weapons the gunman utilized were not the typical firearms of choice for committing murder and mayhem—semiautomatic long guns—as antigun proponents and their echo chamber, the mainstream media, constantly and erroneously, maintain. But, that fact didn’t stop some individuals from surmising, without bothering to first verify, the nature of the weapons used.Apparently, in an attempt to get ahead of the curve, John Cornyn (Senator-Texas) said, as reported by the Houston Public Media Service, that, “. . . the 17-year-old student accused in a fatal shooting at a Texas high school used a semi-automatic pistol and a sawed-off shotgun to kill 10 people. The Republican from Texas says investigators are still determining whether the shotgun’s shortened barrel is legal.” Well, contrary to Senator Cornyn's conjecture, which he asserted as fact, the American public quickly learned that the shooter did not use a semiautomatic handgun, after all, and that the shooter likely did not use a so-called “sawed off shotgun” either. The killer used a common revolver handgun as mentioned above. And, as for Cornyn’s ludicrous, off the cuff remark about the shooter having used a “sawed off shotgun,” if that were the case, how long would it take “investigators” to determine whether the “shortened barrel is legal?” It is, of course, possible, but highly, and presumptively, unlikely, that the Remington Model 870 pump action manually operated shotgun the shooter’s father owned had a barrel length less than the limit prescribed by the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934. A cursory check of the Remington website does provide the prospective buyer of the popular Model 870 pump action shotgun with in depth data about the shotgun along with substantial graphics. The Model 870 shotgun is available in a myriad of configurations and in several barrel lengths, from 14 inches to 30 inches, to meet a user's specific needs, whether employing the weapon for sporting uses or for self-defense.

DID THE SANTA FE TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTER USE A SHOTGUN WITH A BARREL LENGTH LESS THAN 18 INCHES—A  SO-CALLED “SAWED OFF SHOTGUN”—AS U.S. SENATOR, JOHN CORNYN, MAINTAINS?

If, in fact, the shooter’s father’s Remington Model 870 had a barrel length of less than 18 inches, then ATF approval for a shotgun with a barrel length of 18 inches, or less, would be necessary. As pointed out by the ATF, in the atf.gov website, “A shotgun subject to the NFA [National Firearms Act] has a barrel or barrels of less than 18 inches in length. The ATF procedure for measuring barrel length is to measure from the closed bolt (or breech-face) to the furthermost end of the barrel or permanently attached muzzle device.”The website, gundata.org discusses, assiduously, the matter of barrel length of both rifles and shotguns.“Simply put, on the whole, a rifle barrel should be no less than 16" and a shotgun barrel should be no less than 18". While the overall gun length for either a rifle or a shotgun has to be 26" according to the ATF, paying extra for an exception can make a difference. Even though black powder guns don't have this limitation, guns that fire ‘smokeless powder’ do have to adhere to ATF and federal guidelines.That's why shotguns like the modern Mossberg 500 and 600 series riot shotguns will measure out to these specifications. While sawing off a double barreled shotgun or cutting a M1A1 to lengths as short as 12" is possible to make them a lot more cancelable, especially under a dustcoat, the government says that a short shotgun or short rifle isn't legal unless you apply for a specific license.It is possible to apply for a license for a short rifle or short shotgun with the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms). The fee is either $200 or $5 depending on circumstances and the way the gun is manufactured, but owning a gun shorter than the ‘standard’ legal limits is possible. For a gun manufacturer, adhering to the legal limits is mandatory and if you find a shortened gun at a gun show or even at a private sale, be aware of your rights and the applicable laws.” 

A QUANDARY FOR ANTIGUN PROPONENTS

Unlike sophisticated semiautomatic weaponry, manually operated pump action shotguns and manually operated revolver handguns have been around for a long time, approximately 130 years. The pertinent question is this: how have antigun proponents and the mainstream media spun the narrative in the call for further gun restrictions since the Santa Fe, Texas school shooter, here, didn’t use what antigun proponents, along with the mainstream media, often refer— contemptuously, pejoratively, slyly, and clearly erroneously—to as an “assault weapon?” It should be abundantly clear to anyone with half a brain, that, for your average, garden variety killer, who desires to create carnage, any weapon at hand will do. Unless a killer happens to be a psychopathic “professional” assassin or a psychotic member of a drug cartel, either of whom would likely have the contacts, wherewithal, and grim determination to acquire access to specialized, unlawful weapons, the kind of weapons that fall in a domain well beyond those weapons commonly available to the law-abiding American public—an American public that generally acquires firearms through a licensed firearms dealer—a killer will use whatever weapon he is able to get his hands on. That was certainly the case with the Santa Fe Texas shooter. But, given the circumstances of that recent school shooting incident in Santa Fe, Texas, antigun proponents are in a quandary as to whether to stay with their present running narrative—that non-semiautomatic weapons only are okay for law-abiding, rational, average American citizens to possess because semiautomatic weapons and full auto or selective fire weapons are weapons of war that have no place in a modern civilized society—or to sharply alter the current narrative, admitting to the American public, at long last, what it is they are truly after: a ban on civilian ownership and possession of all firearms—to turn the entire Nation into a “Gun-free Zone.”Clearly, antigun proponents’ calls for increasingly tight restrictions on civilian access to so-called assault weapons—meaning, of late, virtually all, not merely some, semiautomatic weapons—suggests a marked reluctance on their part to show their hand too soon, by calling for a total, or, otherwise, comprehensive ban on civilian ownership and possession of firearms of all types. Antigun proponents and zealots have traditionally preferred an incremental approach to gun bans and gun confiscations—one category of firearms at a time, and ever widening the domain of Americans who are precluded lawfully from owning and possessing any firearm—in order to slowly acclimate the public toward acceptance of a gun-free Country.In fact, antigun proponents—a few of them, ostensibly gun owners, posturing as supporters of the natural, fundamental, and unalienable right of the people to keep and bear arms—disingenuously claim by mere assertion, and rarely if ever by hard argument—that some firearms are specifically designed for self-defense, and so, are deemed the good weapons; and that other weapons—various kinds of semiautomatic firearms, the so-called “assault weapons”—are designed for war; and that this latter category of  firearms therefore fall, presumptively, into the bad kind of weaponry that, as antigun proponents vehemently exclaim, civilians should not have access to.Antigun proponents evidently like to recruit and trot out seemingly avid “antigun gun owners” who, in accordance with the central theme and narrative, argue for reinstating a national ban on “assault weapons,” a catchall expression that is increasingly becoming synonymous with all semiautomatic firearms, not merely some semiautomatic weapons. Antigun proponents falsely assert that no one is trying to take all firearms  away from the civilian population of the Country, just some of them—the bad sort, the ones they have corralled under the brand of “assault weapons” or “weapons of war.” They assert that banning such weapons of war is okay because, after all, law-abiding, rational Americans can still keep true self-defense weapons, like .38 revolvers and shotguns handy at the ready, at home.But is that assertion true, especially when it is clear that so-called weapons for self-defense, or for sport, or for plinking at targets, like revolver handguns and shotguns, are capable of offensive use, as well, and with devastating effect, when in the hands of irresponsible individuals; or in the hands of gangbangers; or in the hands of the common criminal; or in the hands of  severely disturbed individuals, such as the shooter who murdered, maimed, and injured several innocent individuals in a Santa Fe, Texas high school? Do not these self-described antigun gun proponents, after all, deviously, deceptively, insidiously, mislead the American public by proffering a seeming reasonable compromise solution to curtailing gun violence and at once "permitting" lawful gun ownership? Are American gun owners expected, honestly, to suspend their skepticism? How many times in the past have American gun owners heard antigun proponents and antigun legislators preface their antigun diatribes with the assertion that they do, of course, support the Second Amendment, when clearly we know that they do not? So, whom are these antigun proponents and antigun legislators really fooling?LET US TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT A COUPLE OF SEEMING “PRO GUN” ANTIGUN GUN PROPONENTS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT CIVILIAN GUN OWERNSHIP AND POSSESSION AND CONSIDER THE EFFICACY OF THEIR REMARKS, CONCERNING REVOLVERS AND SHOTGUNS IN LIGHT OF THE SANTA FE, TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL INCIDENT.Consider the assertions of one antigun zealot, Ashley Addison, who claims, incongruously, to support the right of the people to keep and bear arms. Addison refers to herself as a definitive gun owner. In the weblog, scarymommy.com (an obvious antigun forum, merely masquerading as a weblog supportive of the Second Amendment), this self-proclaimed gun owner claims that she owns only the right and proper sort of weapons—that is to say, weapons for self-defense. Addison says:“I’m a gun owner. I have two pistols, a rifle, a shotgun . . . and a (now-expired) concealed carry permit. I’ve been shooting since I was a kid. I also support every single gun control measure out there. . . . But an AK-47 (and other assault weapons) is not an ideal weapon for personal defense, and it serves no purpose for “home protection.” It was designed for military use. A a [sic] 12-gauge shotgun is a better, more realistic choice for home defense. I’ve never seen any peer-reviewed study/expert/article anywhere that can refute this. Bottom line: Assault-style weapons should never be in the hands of civilians.” Would Addison be so quick to assert that she does, in fact, “support every single gun measure,” as she bluntly says in her blog post if that means having to relinquish her shotgun, since, as anyone with any knowledge of the operations of firearms knows that a “self-defense” weapon can be used offensively and that a self-defense weapons, namely a revolver handgun, and a shotgun were in fact utilized by the Santa Fe, Texas shooter to murder, quite effectively, several innocent young people, and in short order? Would Addison continue to suggest that a 12-gauge shotgun is somehow a good weapon—a safe and humane kind of weapon—one particularly suitable for civilians to wield, but that a semiautomatic “assault-style weapon” is not, when considered in light of this recent mass shooting in Santa Fe, Texas. Is the distinction that Addison draws a sound one? One website, internet armory.com has this to say about the shotgun:“The shotgun is, by far, the deadliest and most formidable, effective firearm ever created for short range personal defense. No other firearm will devastate, disable, or discourage an aggressor as reliably as a shotgun.  No other firearm is as likely to obtain decisive hits on an assailant as a shotgun loaded with buckshot.”When used at shortrange—for example, a school room—Addison’s remark about shotguns (for civilian use) versus assault-style weapons (for military or other non-civilian use is not only patently ridiculous but truly bizarre. One must ask: Does Ashley Addison know what she is talking about? And, by the way, Ashley, shotguns have been and continue to be used by the military and by the police.The point is that any firearm in the wrong hands is deadly. A psychopath or lunatic can create monstrous horror, wielding any firearm. Moreover, while some firearms or firearm configurations are useful or ideal for a particular purpose, any weapon in the wrong hands can dispatch many innocent people, quickly and effectively, as factual accounts of recent shooting incidents bears out.In another “scarymommy.com” blog post, a second female, also a self-described “gun owner,” and purported supporter of the Second Amendment, Marissa Bowman, writes: “The fact of the matter is that guns in America are not going to disappear — at the very least not anytime soon. [Is Bowman suggesting they should disappear? If so, she is hardly the supporter of the Second Amendment that she claims to be]. Our Second Amendment rights guarantee that, and more importantly, our social structure is keeping it in place. Until we can guarantee safety for all children — not just our own — parents like me feel it necessary to utilize the right to have added protection for our family. “That does not mean, however, that anyone should be able to own whatever type of gun that they want and without restrictions. As a part-time solo mom whose partner is frequently away for his job, I absolutely feel it’s necessary to own a gun which I keep in my home. My family’s safety is simply not up for political debate. The Smith & Wesson M&P Bodyguard (.38 Special) that I carry makes me feel as though I can protect and defend my children in a moment’s notice, which in turn makes me feel empowered as a mother.”In light of the Santa Fe, Texas school shooting, the incongruity of the claims of Addison and Bowman are abundantly clear. The notion that some firearms are acceptable for Americans to own and possess and that some are not is demonstrably weak. The fact of the matter is that, in any confined public area where people are cowering, or even in an open area where people are densely packed and running hither and yon into each other, in panic, a would-be killer can use any firearm, or, for that matter, even a knife, to injure or kill a substantial number of people, quickly, effectively, and unceremoniously. It is therefore dubious for a person to claim that law-abiding, rational Americans have a right to acquire some firearms, but not others--with antigun groups and antigun legislators, along with the mainstream media, being the ultimate arbiters as to what firearms some members of the American citizenry, and, increasingly, an ever dwindling number of the American citizenry--to own and possess. We know where this leads. Given a plethora of ad hoc, inconsistent, and unsound arguments propounded, almost daily, concerning what firearms the law-abiding citizen may own and possess, along with a call for increasing restrictions on one's use of his or her personal property, and further restrictions on American civilians who are deemed worthy of owning and possessing a firearm what must inevitably come to pass is the virtual extinction of ownership and possession of any firearm in this Country.

HOW HAVE ANTIGUN WRITERS FOR MAINSTREAM PUBLICATIONS RESPONDED TO THE SANTA FE SHOOTING INCIDENT, WHERE THE KILLER DID NOT USE A SEMIAUTOMATIC FIREARM, BUT A BASIC DOUBLE-ACTION REVOLVER HANDGUN AND A MANUALLY OPERATED PUMP ACTION SHOTGUN?

Had the shooter utilized a semiautomatic long gun qua “assault weapon,” the antigun groups would merely claim, as they have been doing for some time, that no one needs such a weapon for self-defense, and that Congress should therefore enact another “assault weapons” ban. Of course, antigun groups seek, ultimately to forbid civilian ownership and possession of any firearm, but they would seek to do so incrementally, and in a linear fashion. As the NFA (National Firearms Act of 1934) operates, essentially, as a practical matter, as a general ban on civilian ownership and possession of fully automatic and selective fire weapons, as well as operating essentially, and as a practical matter, as a ban on civilian ownership and possession of so-called, “sawed off shotguns,” the desire of antigun groups is, as is evident, to see enacted an NFA style set of federal laws applied to semiautomatic weapons, that is to say, “assault weapons”—meaning, an NFA style set of federal laws applied to every conceivable semiautomatic firearm. Once that goal has been accomplished—if it were accomplished—then the American public should make no mistake, as antigun groups would not stop there. They would then go after civilian ownership and possession of remaining firearms: including revolver handguns, shotguns, lever action rifles, black powder muzzleloaders, and any other type of fully functional firearm that  the average, law-abiding, rational American citizen, and civilian, may happen to own and possess.

HOW IS THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA DEALING WITH THE SANTA FE TEXAS SHOOTING IN LIGHT OF THE FACT THAT THE SHOOTER DID NOT USE A SEMIAUTOMATIC WEAPON TO WREAK HAVOC IN A PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL?

With this latest mass shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, will antigun zealots now call for stringent curbs on civilian ownership and possession of all manner of weaponry? Consider how this is beginning to play out.A contact reporter for the Chicago Tribune, in an article, caustically titled, “No matter what type of gun is used in school shootings, innocent people end up dead,” Dahleen Glanton, writes,“This time, the school shooter did not use an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle to slaughter his classmates. That must be quite a relief to gun lovers.This killer’s weapons of choice were a shotgun and a .38-caliber handgun — two of the most common firearms available. What more proof do we need, gun lovers will ask, that the problem isn’t with guns but rather with people? . . .With so many mass shootings in schools and other public places, there is no question that gun lovers have been feeling as though they are under attack. They have tried their best to fend off arguments by the rest of the country that every gun is not protected under the Second Amendment. With so many people dying, we desperately need them to wake up and join us in the struggle to keep our children safe. Only then will politicians feel secure enough to take action.We cannot let them off the hook. Guns in general, and semi-automatic rifles in particular, remain the greatest threat to safety in America.Pagourtzis might not have been armed with a high-powered weapon when he allegedly entered that classroom Friday, but gun laws are so lax in Texas that he certainly could easily have gotten his hands on one. In fact, he could have walked down the street with an AR-15 strapped to his shoulder and likely no one would have thought it was odd.If anything, the shooting exemplifies what anti-gun advocates in cities like Chicago have been saying too. It is far too easy for a legal gun to turn into an illegal gun.”We make a couple observations here. Firstly, the reporter for this mainstream Press newspaper is acting in typical lockstep with previous mainstream reports of mass shootings, maintaining a consistent antigun narrative. But, she acknowledges, as she must, that the Santa Fe, Texas high school shooter did not use a semiautomatic long gun. But she then moves to propounding bald counterfactuals, apparently to maintain the consistent antigun movement narrative, blasting the presence of semiautomatic long guns in the civilian population, asserting that the shooter could have gotten his hands on an “AR-15,” given, what the reporter refers to as lax gun laws in Texas—a point the reporter doesn’t bother to clarify and expound upon; nor does this reporter explain how the shooter could have gotten his hands on a semiautomatic rifle, but didn’t. Actually the shooter quite effectively murdered and injured innocent young people at Santa Fe High School with a pump action shotgun and a revolver handgun. He need not have bothered to get his hands on an AR-15 if he had thought about the matter at all. Secondly, the shooter gained access to his father’s firearms because his father failed to properly secure them. Note: This is the same, virtually identical and disturbing scenario, by the way, that played out, tragically, in Newtown, Connecticut, at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in 2012.A mother, Nancy Lanza, failed properly to secure her firearms from her psychotic son, Adam Lanza. Now, no one would seriously suggest that Connecticut has had lax gun laws, either prior to the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, or at any time since the tragedy. In both the Newtown, Connecticut mass shooting incident and in the recent Santa Fe, Texas mass shooting incident, the primary cause for the tragedy can and should be laid at the feet of irresponsible adults and heads of families who knew or should have known of, and certainly better than anyone else, the dangers posed by failing to properly secure firearms from children or from disturbed family members who happen to be residing in the household, and by failing to properly secure any other object that could be feasibly used as a deadly weapon by children or by severely mentally disturbed family members. What we see instead is that neither the irresponsible adult family member, nor the psychotic son is cast as the principal culprit and villain. Rather, the firearm that an obviously psychotic young man acquired and used to murder, maim, and injure innocent individuals—be it a semiautomatic rifle in one instance, or a shotgun and revolver handgun in the other—is cast as the primary cause for the ensuing tragedies and cast, too, as the basic and principal villain and "fall guy." The antigun proponent's narrative can take one of two forms.Consider: one of two narratives must play out when we see antigun proponents and commentators placing blame squarely on an object, rather than on the sentient entity who wields it, that is to say, when we see antigun proponents and commentators placing blame on an object rather than upon the agent who wields the object. Antigun proponents and antigun commentators tend either to fall back on the same, ever recurring narrative, namely  that the primary cause for gun violence rests upon the so-called assault weapon, even if a semiautomatic weapon was never in use by a killer or antigun proponents and antigun commentators must construct a new narrative. If antigun commentators wish to stay with the typical narrative, namely that semiautomatic weapons must be banned even if semiautomatic weapons were never used in the shooting incident, as was the case in the recent Santa Fe, Texas incident, then an argument calling for a general ban on civilian ownership and possession of semiautomatic weapons and mass confiscation of semiautomatic weapons is nonsensical in the extreme, as a narrative that does not fit the factual situation must invariably devolve into a recitation of senseless, hypothetical "what if" scenarios as we see in the Chicago Tribune article, and as we also see in the New Yorker article, infra. The narrative becomes decidedly discordant if predictable; for the proverbial deadly object qua "assault weapon" doesn't factor into the fact pattern. It cannot. If, on the other hand, antigun proponents and commentators wish to construct a new narrative, admitting to the public what antigun proponents most assuredly discuss among themselves, namely, that firearms of all types must eventually be banned, not just so-called, “assault weapons”--aka “weapons of war, then the antigun proponent and commentator isn't compelled to resort to spurious and specious hypotheticals, which has not place in a news account anyway; and the narrative is internally consistent. But the true intent of the antigun movement would be laid bare for all to see. The true aims of the antigun movement would be clear and irrefutable. In that case, the "cat" would definitely be "out of the bag,"  as the antigun proponent or antigun commentator  would be clearly and categorically articulating the antigun movement's ultimate goal: the disarming of the American citizenry en masse. Neither narrative would sit well with American gun owners; nor should it. For, any attempt to arbitrarily ban civilian possession of firearms--whether a gun ban and gun confiscation scheme embraces one type of firearm or all types--would, in either case, be true folly and wholly unacceptable to the American gun owning public because gun bans and gun confiscation schemes are altogether incompatible with the import and purport of the fundamental right of the people to keep and bear arms as codified in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Semiautomatic weapons, revolvers, and shotguns are all in common use by millions of average, honest, law-abiding, and rational American citizens. These weapons all fall within the core protection of the Second Amendment and cannot lawfully be taken away from Americans. The late, eminent U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority in the seminal Second Amendment Heller case made abundantly clear that, presumed State public safety concerns do not and cannot legally override fundamental, primordial Constitutional rights. The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the Land; and basic, natural rights and liberties, as a critical component of the U.S. Constitution, are not and never shall be subordinate to State or Federal Statute, much less to public opinion polls or to orchestrated public demonstrations.As the right of the people to keep and bear arms is not and never has been a right bestowed on Government to the people but exists forever within the American people, that right cannot be legitimately, legally tampered with. To obliterate the natural and fundamental right codified in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, by arrogantly attempting to turn a sacred right into a mere privilege, easily dispensed with, is an anathema to our history, traditions, values, ethical sensibilities, and legal, social, economic, and moral foundational understanding. Such an effort would, as well, illustrate the antigun movement's naked, and absolute, unbridled disdain for seminal Second Amendment, U.S. Supreme Court rulings.Another writer for a mainstream news publication, John Cassidy, a columnist for the New Yorker, in an article titled, “Everything About the Texas School Shooting Seems Horribly Familiar,” makes similar comments to those of Dahleen Glanton, writing for the Chicago Tribune. Cassidy, too, maintains the usual antigun proponent's narrative, attempting to shoehorn counterfactuals into a factual account of the mass shooting. So, despite the weapons that the Santa Fe, Texas gunman used during his murderous escapade, a shotgun, and .38 caliber revolver, which did not include semiautomatic weapons, Cassidy eschews keeping to the facts, contrary to what a reporter should be doing--recounting facts, not contemplating, "what ifs." Cassidy argues that the shooter could have used a semiautomatic weapon to seriously injure or kill innocent young people, even if the shooter, as we know, didn’t. The account comes across as weak, even silly. John Cassidy exclaims:“About the only atypical aspect of the shooting was that Pagourtzis reportedly used a Remington Model 870 shotgun and a .38-calibre revolver, rather than a semi-automatic rifle, to kill his ten victims and wound ten others. This was probably because his father didn’t own an AR-15 or any other weapon of war. (Pagourtzis told police he used his father’s guns. It wasn’t immediately clear whether his father knew that they were in his possession.) Enthusiasts of semi-automatic weapons will presumably use this detail to fortify their case against banning such weapons—the argument being that there are firearms of all kinds (more than three hundred million in private hands across the U.S., according to some estimates) and banning one particular type of gun won’t prevent a dedicated shooter from carrying out a massacre.In the world of Second Amendment devotees, this qualifies as a legitimate case to make. So does the argument, which Donald Trump and the N.R.A. have made, that the real issue with school shootings isn’t the fact that disturbed adolescents have such ready access to deadly weapons but that schools don’t have enough armed teachers to stop gun-wielding intruders, or enough ready escape routes for students and staff to take as they flee the gunfire. ‘We have to look at the design of our schools moving forward and retrofitting schools that are already built,’ Dan Patrick, the Republican lieutenant governor of Texas, said on Friday. ‘And what I mean by that is there are too many entrances and too many exits to our over eight thousand campuses in Texas . . . Had there been one single entrance, possibly, for every student, maybe he’—Pagourtzis—'would have been stopped.’ Rather than descending further into the world of deliberate denial, it is perhaps worth stating a few facts: this was the second school massacre in three months, and the second gun massacre in six months in Texas.”“Descending further into the world of deliberate denial?” How does fortifying schools against shooters translate into denial. Clearly, John Cassidy is, himself, in denial. It isn’t the millions of law-abiding, rational Americans who happen to own firearms and who strongly support our Bill of Rights—all Ten of them—who are in denial. In fact, in those States that have implemented truly effective school safety plans against shooters, utilizing armed teachers and other armed personnel, there has been not one incident of a school shooting. But, antigun proponents, like John Cassidy choose, apparently, to ignore that fact, assuming he bothered to investigate the matter at all. He presents, as self-evident, true the false and absurd notion that the answer to school safety rests, simply and solely on banning civilian ownership and possession of firearms en masse.Cassidy’s argument boils down essentially to this: killers murdered young people with guns; so, once Congress bans firearms from the American citizenry, commencing with a ban on semiautomatic rifles, the problem of mass murders in schools will be resolved. Cassidy is wrong. The problem of mass murders in schools or in other public venues won’t end, not by a long shot! Because violence exists in the minds of people, not in objects. That simple truth seems forever to elude antigun proponents who are obsessed with eliminating “The Gun” from society, irrespective of the root causes of violence.John Cassidy, as with Dahleen Ganlon, seems fixated on the notion that the Santa Fe shooter would, of course, have taken up an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle if the shooter’s father happened to have one. Antigun proponents, like John Cassidy, love to slither here and there—perhaps unaware that they are doing so—from reporting on events taking place in the world to reflecting on possible circumstances that might have, or could have, or conceivably would have, occurred, but didn’t; and they conclude their polemics with express or tacit normative remarks about the way the world ought to be. Since, the antigun movement is hell-bent on removing from civilian possession all semiautomatic weapons, first and foremost, commencing with a broad ban on all semiautomatic weapons that this or that antigun proponent wishes to call an "assault weapon," the movement's proponents and the commentators and reporters of the mainstream media who echo the movement's tactics and strategies, do not wish to muddy the waters by talking about the weapons that a particular killer happened to use, rather than the ones that the antigun proponents' would have wished for the gunman to have used in order to keep with the "game plan." Time would come, when, after semiautomatic weapons have been confiscated, remaining categories of firearms can be confiscated and banned as well.As with all or most antigun zealots, John Cassidy knows little if anything concrete about firearms, and likely cares not one whit to educate himself. As for so-called weapons of war, a little history lesson is in order here. Revolver handguns as well as shotguns have seen use in war. Both weapons are used by many police departments and they have use in sport and for self-defense, as are semiautomatic weapons. And, as the Arbalest Quarrel has pointed out in the previously posted article, any weapon can be used for good or ill, dependent on the wielder of the weapon. The Santa Fe School shooting, the Parkland, Florida school shooting, and the Newtown, Connecticut school shooting were easily preventable. Failures by governmental authorities and/or by parents of shooters led to tragedy. Those who own and possess firearms have the responsibility to properly use and care for them and to properly secure them. The vast majority of gun owners are responsible gun owners. There is no sane reason to target their firearms for confiscation.In any event, the answer to curbing gun violence does not devolve to imposing debilitating, draconian gun restrictions on millions of responsible gun owners. That would destroy our free Republic and likely led to outright civil war, as the American citizenry would see first hand, an unlawful attempt by Government to wrest control of the Nation from the citizenry.There is a more direct and effective response to school safety. It is a twofold approach; and it is an approach that does not create havoc with our Constitution and with the natural rights of Americans. First, at the State, County and local Government levels, a clear and honest assessment of school safety must be made. Once that assessment is completed, a plan must be devised and then implemented with proper testing. The New Yorker columnist, John Cassidy, may see this as a trivial matter. We do not. Second, firearms must be removed from the hands of those who act irresponsibly, and there must be a concerted effort to remove firearms from the criminal elements in our society. Laws already on the books need to be enforced. The Nation does not need more firearms’ laws. Unfortunately, the antigun movement in this Country seeks to disarm the vast responsible American citizenry. School shootings serve merely as a pretext for broad-base gun bans and eventual mass gun confiscation. It is the vast responsible, law-abiding American armed citizenry that the antigun movement is truly targeting, for it is the vast law-abiding armed citizenry that those who seek to disarm Americans truly fear, as it is the vast, law-abiding armed citizenry that, as the Founders of our Republic intended, they cannot, ought not, and must not control. For, it is only in an armed citizenry that true Government encroachment on the rights and liberties of the American citizenry is effectively, categorically, constrained and contained. It is not the criminal element, then, and it is not the occasional lunatic that goes off on a shooting spree that the antigun movement and their silent, secretive, ruthless Globalist benefactors truly fear.It is the average, law-abiding American citizen and gun owner that these anti-American elements fear and therefore seek to control. The banshee shriek and wail calling for a ban, eventually, on civilian ownership and possession of guns generally and a ban on civilian ownership and possession of semiautomatic firearms—pejoratively and idiotically referred to by antigun proponents as “assault weapons” and as “weapons of war”—particularly, at this juncture, and the claim made that only through mass gun control and eventual mass gun confiscation will this Nation, its people, and its children be safe from violence are, on close inspection specious, even ludicrous, pronouncements even if, superficially, these boisterous, obstreperous pronouncements happen to sound palatable and convincing, as, of course, they are meant to. This propaganda—for propaganda it is—is directed to the weak-willed and the uniformed among us—individuals who are looking for a panacea to violence in society, as violence is claimed to be endemic in society, and they are told it need not be, if only the public accedes to giving up their firearms.Through it all, the American public is being fed a false narrative. It is a narrative carefully crafted and then directed to the American public through mass media organizations, controlled by transnationalist billionaires who seek to alter, forever, the framework of the Nation, a free Republic that the Founders of our Nation, the framers of our Constitution and of our sacred Bill of Rights, bequeathed to us. The transnationalist billionaires seek to destroy our Nation for their own benefit, for their own selfish  ends. The goal, of these extraordinarily powerful, insanely wealthy, highly secretive, and absolutely ruthless individuals, is not suppression of gun violence, despite the claims of antigun groups, their willing tools. To the contrary; it is repression of the American citizenry. That, unfortunately, is the sad, but irrefutable truth. The American public should not be deluded to think it not so._________________________________________________Copyright © 2018 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

I AM A GUN AND THIS IS WHAT I HAVE TO SAY

I am a Gun. I am not a person. I, myself, am incapable of harming anyone. Only a person is capable of harming another person. I cannot, myself, harm a person. And I cannot force a person to use me for an evil purpose. In the hands of a rational, competent, law-abiding person, I serve a greater good. In the hands of an irrational, incompetent, lawless individual, I serve a dark end. But, I, myself, must be held blameless because I am not a person.Many ill-informed individuals are quick to cast aspersions on me. They will say or suggest that I am evil incarnate. I am not. I do not have the power of choice. I do not have “free will.” Only a human being has the power of choice; only a human being has free will. I do not. Only a human being can choose to do good or ill, in accordance with that person’s “will.” I cannot. Still, there are those who believe, falsely, that I am evil, and strenuously make that claim. That truly puzzles me; for, only a person who misuses me can be deemed evil.Those who denigrate and demean me fail to realize the enormous positive benefit that I have brought and continue to bring to this Nation. The United States could not exist but for me. The founders of this free Republic used my great great grandfather, the flintlock, to forge a mighty Nation. During the Second World War, my cousins—including, among others, the M1 Garand Rifle, the Thompson submachine gun, and the Browning Automatic Rifle—in the competent hands of our Nation’s troops, helped to defeat two of our most powerful and intractable foes: Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. I have also assisted and continue to assist our police officers in helping protect our communities from lawless elements.AND, I AM, TO THE COUNTLESS AVERAGE, LAW-ABIDING, RATIONAL, RESPONSIBLE AMERICAN CITIZENS--AS THE FRAMERS OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION INTENDED--THE MOST EFFECTIVE MEANS AVAILABLE THROUGH WHICH THESE CITIZENS ARE ABLE TO PRESERVE AND DEFEND THEIR LIFE, SAFETY, AND WELL-BEING AND THE LIFE, SAFETY, AND WELL-BEING OF THEIR FAMILIES—FROM THOSE RUTHLESS, TERRIBLE, EVIL ELEMENTS IN SOCIETY WHO SEEK TO DO HARM.Going back far earlier in time, my ancestors, the matchlock and wheel lock firearms, gave to the common man the ability to grapple effectively with powerful nobility, who wore formidable suits of armor, wielding massive lances and swords, sitting atop powerful steeds.There is much to commend me. Unfortunately, history’s revisionists dismiss me out-of-hand, selectively  focusing only on those who have misused me. In recent months, young men who gained access to me, and who should never have gained access to me, have committed monstrous acts. Those monstrous acts have been wrongly ascribed principally to me, rather than to the individuals who have misused me. I am well aware of the horrific acts that deranged young people have done. Their monstrous acts should not have occurred and would not have occurred but for crucial missteps by irresponsible people who failed to properly secure me.In 2012, a severely mentally unstable young man, Adam Lanza, gained access to his mother’s firearms. Had I been able, I would have warned Nancy Lanza, Adam’s mother, to properly secure me so that her mentally disturbed son could not gain access to me. She failed to do so. Her irresponsible act in failing to properly secure me led directly to her death at her son’s hands. This sad, deranged young man, Adam Lanza, then carried me to a public school, Sandy Hook Elementary School, located in Newtown, Connecticut. In his hands, Adam Lanza used me to kill innocent children and teachers. But for Nancy Lanza’s irresponsible actions, this horrific incident would never have happened and could never have happened. Major media organizations wrongly blamed me for the tragedy.A similar horrific event occurred, in February of 2018. Another deranged young man, Nikolas Cruz, wrongfully gained access to me, and used me to murder or seriously injure many innocent students and teachers—this time at another public school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, located in Parkland, Florida. Once again media people, reporting on this event, at the urging of those individuals who profess a pathological hatred toward me, blame me for the senseless tragedy, claiming that it is I, rather than this young man, Nikolas Cruz, who is the principal cause of the tragedy.Legislators, members of the mass media, and members of groups who call for my eradication, fail to realize that it is not I that cause violence. To cause violence I must have the desire to do violence, and once having the desire to do violence, I must then act on that desire. But, I am incapable of desire, and I am incapable of action. People, alone, are capable of desire and people alone are capable of acting on their desires. People are causal agents of harm. I am not a causal agent, but merely an object, a tool. Yet, I am blamed for the evil actions of those who misuse me. On careful reflection, though, it is clear that it is the killer, Nikolas Cruz, 19 years old, and it is those agents of Government who knew or should have known of the danger Nikolas Cruz posed to the community, who are the principal causes for harm done to others.There were multiple warnings and warning signs of the danger Nikolas Cruz posed to the community, but Governmental authorities failed to heed those warnings and those signs. Had I been able to, I would have spoken up, alerting the School Board, alerting the FBI, and alerting the County Sheriff’s Office, of the imminent danger posed by Nikolas Cruz. The tragedy that occurred was easily preventable. Yet, local, County, State, and Federal authorities are not held to account. I, however, am held to account. I, the Gun, am deemed responsible for the myriad failings of people.Irresponsible, lawless acts, uncorrected, tend to repeat themselves—an endless loop of tragedy occurring ever again. So it is that yet another severely disturbed young man, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, went on a shooting rampage at a high school, in Santa Fe, Texas. That tragedy unfolded recently. How did this happen? Quite simply, the young man’s father failed to properly secure me. The father breached a duty of care owed to the community to prevent his son from gaining access to me. That failure led to horrific tragedy.The pattern is disturbingly familiar, replaying itself over and over again, and each time, the tragedy was preventable, and would have been prevented but for the failure of adults residing in the community, and but for the failure of Governmental authorities to act to thwart the tragedy. And, once again, the blame for the tragedy is laid at my feet. I, who cannot do any act, good or ill, but for an agent who wields me, is ever the scapegoat.Of course, the vast majority of gun owners are responsible. They treat me with respect. They handle me competently; and they properly secure me, preventing those who must not gain access to me, from doing so. Yet, there are individuals in Government, in industry, and even foreigners who bear a personal grudge against me and who hold me in contempt. And there are groups, comprising individuals whose sole purpose for existence is to eradicate me. These individuals think that by dispossessing millions of average, law-abiding, rational, responsible American citizens of me, the Gun, that violence will stop. It will not stop.A person need merely consider that, in many Western nations where Government has essentially banned me, violence continues unabated. Sociopathic and criminal elements in society still obtain possession of me and use me to seriously injure or kill innocent people. And, even if horrible, evil people do not have immediate access to me, that does not prevent them from causing horrific violence just the same. Those people who desire to harm others will always find a way and means to do so. And, they have done so, repeatedly, constantly, using knives, and bombs, and even cars and trucks to murder and maim innocent people.Still, the drumbeat continues for my banishment from so-called “civilized” society. Those individuals who detest me argue that violence can be stemmed simply by outlawing me. But, arbitrarily denying the average responsible citizen from owning and possessing me will do nothing to prevent lawless and deranged individuals from doing harm, whether by wielding me, or by wielding or utilizing another object. And, when all is said and done, I am just that—an object, a tool, nothing more. Those who seek to blame me, profane me, debase me, denigrate me, castigate me, would do well to recall a quotation from the classic 1953 Western film, “Shane,” where the protagonist offered this sage advice concerning me, as he addressed the wife of a rancher:“A gun is a tool, Marian; no better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it.”Those who desire to ban me outright would do well to remember that banning me will do nothing to prevent the occurrence of and recurrence of evil acts. Evil cannot be legislated away, even as some people seem to believe that it can be legislated away or would like to believe that evil can be legislated away through the simplistic, implausible, unconscionable, and constitutionally impermissible, unlawful expedient of denying to the average, rational, responsible, law-abiding American citizen the fundamental right to own and possess me. At the end of the day, evil remains, and monstrous acts of violence will, unfortunately, continue to occur because evil exists in the heart of those people who seek to do evil, and there are, lamentably, all too many of those in the world. Evil does not and never did exist in me, “The Gun.”_________________________________________________Copyright © 2018 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

CONNECTICUT HANDGUN LICENSING LAWS AND PROCEDURES: COMPLETING THE APPLICATION

A ROAD TRIP WITH A HANDGUN: THE CASE FOR UNIVERSAL STATE CONCEALED HANDGUN CARRY RECIPROCITY

The Adventures of One Law-Abiding American Citizen as He Traverses the Minefield of Firearms’ Laws, Attempting to Secure for Himself Multiple Concealed Handgun Carry Licenses from A Multitude Of Jurisdictions That He May Exercise His Fundamental Right To Keep And Bear Arms Under The Second Amendment To The U.S. Constitution For The Purpose Of Self-Defense

A Comprehensive Analysis of The Procedures for Obtaining a Concealed Handgun Carry License in Various States for The Layman

PART FOUR: THE CONNECTICUT FIREARM APPLICATION PROCEDURE FOR ACQUIRING AN UNRESTRICTED CONCEALED HANDGUN CARRY LICENSE: THE APPLICATION PACKET

THE CIRCUITOUS, TORTUOUS ROUTE TO OBTAINING MULTIPLE UNRESTRICTED CONCEALED HANDGUN LICENSES AS EXPERIENCED BY OUR INTREPID CITIZEN, MR. WRIGHT.

SUBPART FIVE

COMPLETING THE APPLICATION

INTRODUCTION

In the previous segment of the ROAD TRIP series, we commenced a detailed analysis of the application process for obtaining a Connecticut handgun carry permit. Mr. Wright, an American citizen and successful businessman has applied for several handgun carry licenses. He has done this because he conducts business in several jurisdictions and he carries with him substantial business assets when he travels to and through various States. He is a tempting target for thieves. Mr. Wright knows that the best defense against assault, when he is on the road, is through possession of handgun. Mr. Wright is thoroughly trained in the safe handling of a handgun and he has had special training in the use of a handgun for self-defense in critical life-threatening situations.We laid out for you, in the previous segment, SUBPART FOUR, all the documents the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit of the Division of State Police provides in the information and application packet. In this segment, SUBPART FIVE, we take a close look at the formal “PISTOL PERMIT/ELIGIBILITY CERTIFICATE APPLICATION." This Application is four pages in length—two pages folded over, in dark blue heavy stock paper. The first page lays out the instructions. There are three columns: one, “Instructions for State Pistol Permits,” (which applies to residents of Connecticut); two, “Instructions for Non-Resident State Pistol Permits;” and, three, “Instructions for Eligibility Certificates to Purchase Pistols or Revolvers and/or Eligibility Certificates to Purchase Long Guns.”As we are following the procedures for completing applications for handgun licenses that Mr. Wright—a law-abiding U.S. citizen and successful businessman who we use as our example in this exercise—followed, we see Mr. Wright and his attorney and professional security consultant, reviewing the application. Since Mr. Wright is a non-resident, Mr. Wright first checks off the box for a “Non-Resident State Pistol Permit.” Turning the page, Mr. Wright fills out the usual information requested—which he has done many times before, when completing applications for handgun licenses as issued in other jurisdictions. He sets forth his complete name, date of birth, vital statistics, namely, sex, height, and weight, race and sex.

A WORD OF ADVICE FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE UNDERGONE SEX REASSIGNMENT SURGERY OR WHO WISH TO CLASSIFY THEMSELVES AS TRANSGENDER AND WHO IDENTIFY WITH A SEX OTHER THAN THEIR BIOLOGICAL (BIRTH) SEX.

Given changing societal norms, matters that have, for decades, never been an issue but that are slowly manifesting as new issues in employment, in schools in the military and in government, generally may create conundrums for applicants.It goes without saying that those parties authorized to prosecute applications for firearms’ licenses and permits are not permitted to discriminate on the basis of age, sex, race, religion, national origin, and that likely includes sexual orientation. Now, the matter of sex identification is a complex subject. Much legislation and litigation is or will be ongoing for some time to come. So, prior to specific legislation and Court rulings on the matter of sex, how should a person who, say, was born a man, but who identifies as a woman, complete an application for a firearm’s license or permit, when that person is instructed to set forth sex?For those who have not undergone sex reassignment, one should check the box that refers to their sex at birth—namely, their biological sex. Even for those who have undergone sex reassignment, it is probably best to indicate one’s sex at birth. Remember, the purpose here is to obtain a handgun license. Do not attempt to get into a philosophical fight with the firearms’ licensing official. You will lose. Nor should you leave the entry pertaining to sex, blank. The licensing official will assume that you had simply forgotten to enter your sex and this will delay prosecution of one’s handgun license. That goes for the issue of one’s race. A person may not wish to check off the appropriate box. There are six categories for race, and they include a category for “unknown.” Do not refrain from checking off at least one box on the application form. For, once again, if you leave this category blank, that will only delay prosecution of the application.If there is any doubt as to the appropriate course of action, you should contact a licensed attorney.For, Mr. Wright, the completion of this section on vital statistics was simple enough to complete. Mr. Wright is male, and white. He completed the entry for his height, weight, date of birth, place of birth and Country of Citizenship. Mr. Wright is a citizen of the United States.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR THOSE INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE NOT LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THIS COUNTRY.

For those individuals who do not reside in this Country legally, do not attempt to complete this application. The licensing official will deny your application. If you do reside in this Country legally, there is a box on the application form requiring you to set forth your “alien registration number.”

RESIDENTIAL AND MAILING ADDRESS AND EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

In this section of the Application, the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit of the Division of State Police of the DESSP, requires applicants to provide residential address—which includes addresses for the last seven years, from the date of the application, if the applicant has changed residences, and a mailing address (if different from residential address). Note, if residential address and mailing address are different, this may cause the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit Officer to flag the application.The applicant must also provide the name, address, and telephone number of one’s employer. If the applicant has had several employers, then the applicant must list the name, address, and telephone number of each employer that that applicant worked for during the last seven years. Be specific and do not refrain from listing every employer.Mr. Wright, for his part, is self-employed and has been self-employed for many years. So, Mr. Wright listed his Company as employer, the address of his main business offices, and his business phone number.

"PERMIT/ELIGIBILITY CERTIFICATE APPLICATION”

Every section of the Application is critical. But, some sections raise red flags. This is one of those sections. This section of the application requires the applicant to indicate whether he or she has had an application for a firearm’s permit “denied,” “suspended,” “revoked,” from any jurisdiction. Mr. Wright has several firearms’ permits and licenses issued by appropriate licensing authority from multiple States and, as required, from various jurisdictions within a State—as is the case with the State of New York, as Mr. Wright has handgun licenses issued by the appropriate licensing authority for New York City and for Nassau County, Long Island, New York. Mr. Wright has never had a firearm’s license permit, denied, suspended, or revoked and he checks off the appropriate box to indicate that fact.For those individuals who have applied for a firearm’s permit or license and a permit or license has been denied, suspended, or revoked, you must indicate that fact and give the particulars, by identifying the jurisdiction that denied, suspended, or revoked the application, the date of denial, suspension, or revocation, and the reason for the denial, suspension, or revocation.DO NOT LIE! And, do not refrain from indicating a denial, suspension, or revocation, that you might have, for that is tantamount to lying on the application. While admitting a denial, suspension, or revocation does raise a red flag, this does not constitute an automatic denial of your application. Lying does. You will find that The Firearms and Special Licensing Unit of the Division of State Police unforgiving of outright lies. On the other hand admitting a denial, suspension, or revocation of a handgun license does not mean that you will not receive a permit. The Firearms and Special Licensing Unit of the Division of State Police is mindful that, in some jurisdictions, securing a handgun license or permit is very difficult and that this is due to the fact that some jurisdictions are “MAY ISSUE,” not “SHALL ISSUE,” where a person seeks to secure a handgun carry license. The Firearms and Special Licensing Unit of the Division of State Police of Connecticut is certainly mindful that denial of a handgun carry permit or license may not be due to a “disability”—such as a felony arrest record—but simply due to the fact that a person does not meet the stringent requirements for obtaining a handgun carry license. Now, even though Connecticut is, itself considered a “MAY ISSUE” State for handgun carry permits, the issuance of a handgun carry permit is, for qualified individuals, much less stringent than is the case in a jurisdiction such as New York City. For, in Connecticut, the stated reason of “SELF DEFENSE” constitutes good and sufficient cause for issuance of a handgun carry permit to a qualified person. In New York City, on the other hand, “SELF DEFENSE,” as a stated reason for issuance of a handgun carry license is patently insufficient.If an individual’s application for a firearm has been denied due to “DISABILITY” that individual must indicate that fact. If an individual’s firearm’s license or permit has been suspended or revoked after issuance, the date of suspension or revocation and the reason therefor must also be stated. Once again, DO NOT LIE AND DO NOT REFRAIN FROM MENTIONING EACH AND VERY OCCURRENCE OF A DENIAL, SUSPENSION, OR REVOCATION OF A FIREARM’S LICENSE OR PERMIT! Be advised, too, that the Connecticut Application makes reference in this Section of the Application to “FIREARMS.” So don’t try to be cute and suppose that, if one had applied, in another jurisdiction for a long gun—that is to say, a rifle or shotgun—and that person has been denied issuance of a permit or license for a long gun—a person may refrain from mentioning that fact simply because he or she is applying, in Connecticut, for a handgun license. The Firearms and Special Licensing Unit of the Division of State Police has used the term, ‘Firearm,’ for a reason, when it asks an individual to indicate whether that person’s application for a license or permit, in any jurisdiction, has been denied, suspended or revoked. If the Special Licensing Unit had indicated an interest in determining whether an individual’s application for a pistol or revolver had ever been denied, suspended, or revoked, it would have made specific reference to the denial, suspension, or revocation of one’s pistol or revolver license or permit. The use of the general term, ‘FIREARM,’ here is meant to be all-inclusive.

MEDICAL HISTORY, CRIMINAL HISTORY, AND MILITARY HISTORY

The third page of “THE PISTOL PERMIT/ELIGIBILITY CERTIFICATE APPLICATION” is the most critical section, for it is the true “RED FLAG” portion of the Application.In the “MEDICAL SECTION” of the Application, the applicant for a Connecticut handgun carry permit must check the appropriate for each of the following:

CONFINEMENT TO A HOSPITAL FOR MENTAL ILLNESS BY ORDER OF A PROBATE COURT

The Firearms and Special Licensing Unit of the Division of State Police asks:“Have you been confined in a hospital for mental illness in the past sixty (60) months by order of a Probate Court?” There is a check box for “yes” and for “no.”Mr. Wright truthfully checks the box, “no” as he has never been confined to a hospital for mental illness by order of a Probate Court. The question asked is inapplicable to him. Mr. Wright proceeds to the next section of the Application.NOTE: THE QUESTION PERTAINS TO INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE BEEN INVOLUNTARILY COMMITTED TO A HOSPITAL FOR MENTAL ILLNESS AS INVOLUNTARILY COMMITMENTS REQUIRE AN ORDER OF COURT. NO ONE CAN BE LAWFULLY CONFINED TO A HOSPITAL AGAINST HIS OR HER WISHES ABSENT AN ORDER FROM A COURT OF COMPETENT JURISDICTION.

DISCHARGED FROM CUSTODY HAVING BEEN FOUND NOT GUILTY OF A CRIME BY REASON OF MENTAL DISEASE OR MENTAL DEFECT

The Firearms and Special Licensing Unit of the Division of State Police asks:“Have you been discharged from custody within the past twenty years after having been found not guilty of a crime by reason of a mental disease or defect.”Mr. Wright truthfully checks the box, “no,” as the question asked is inapplicable to him. He has never been charged with a crime and, so, has never been in the position of having been found guilty of a crime where a court might have found him not guilty by reason of a mental disease or defect. Mr. Wright now proceeds to the next section of the Application.

VOLUNTARY ADMISSION TO A HOSPITAL FOR MENTAL ILLNESS

The Firearms and Special Licensing Unit of the Division of State Police asks:“Have you been voluntarily admitted to a hospital for mental illness within the past six (6) months for reason other than solely for alcohol or drug dependence?"Mr. Wright truthfully checks the box, “no,” as he has never had reason to voluntarily commit himself to a hospital for mental illness or, for that matter, for any reason, relating to mental illness, or for alcohol or drug issues. The question asked is inapplicable to him. Mr. Wright then proceeds to the next section of the Application.NOTE: THIS QUESTION, UNLIKE THE FIRST QUESTION, REFERS TO A VOLUNTARY COMMITMENT, WHERE AN INDIVIDUAL VOLUNTARILY ADMITS HIM OR HERSELF TO A HOSPITAL FOR TREATMENT FOR A MENTAL ILLNESS OR FOR ALCOHOL OR DRUG ISSUE RELATED TO OR UNRELATED TO AN UNDERLYING MENTAL ILLNESS.If the applicant has voluntarily admitted himself to a hospital for treatment for alcohol dependency or for dependency on drugs, whether those drugs be illegal or through lawful prescription, but the treatment does not entail “mental illness,” then the applicant can reasonably check the corresponding check box, “no.” This is tricky, though. If the applicant voluntarily commits himself to a hospital, within the six months preceding the date of application for a Connecticut, handgun carry permit, for treatment of an alcohol and/or drug related problem, the applicant may also be treated for a mental condition as alcohol and/or drug related problems may subsume a mental condition. If there is doubt about this, the applicant who has voluntarily committed himself or herself to a hospital for alcohol and/or drug related problems within the last six months should take a look at his or her medical record to ascertain whether the record indicates a mental disorder as it is incumbent on the applicant to be certain what his or her medical record says.“NOTICE: “DESPP HEREIN NOTIFIES THE APPLICANT THAT, PURSUANT TO C.G.S. §§ 29-28 THROUGH 29-30b, DESSP WILL BE NOTIFIED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTION SERVICES IF THE APPLICANT HAS BEEN CONFINED TO A HOSPITAL FOR PSYCHIATRIC DISABILITIES WITHIN THE PRECEDING SIXTY (60) MONTHS BY ORDER OF PROBATE COURT, OR IF THE APPLICANT HAS BEEN VOLUNTARILY ADMITTED TO A HOSPITAL FOR MENTAL ILLNESS WITH THE PAST SIX (6) MONTHS FOR REASONS OTHER THAN SOLELY FOR ALCOHOL OR DRUG DEPENDENCE.”This “NOTICE” is to alert the Applicant that, regardless how the Applicant answers the questions of this section, DESPP will contact the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. So, under no circumstances should the applicant think that, by lying on the application, the DESPP, will not find out whether an applicant has been voluntarily or involuntarily committed to a hospital for treatment. DESPP will also be contacting the FBI, to ascertain criminal record of the applicant if any and if an individual was found not guilty of a crime due to mental illness or mental defect, that is likely to be in the FBI data bases as well.

PRIOR ARREST RECORD

The Firearms and Special Licensing Unit of the Division of State Police asks:“Have you ever been ARRESTED for any crime in any jurisdiction?”Mr. Wright truthfully checks the appropriate box, “no,” and proceeds to the next section of the Application.For those individuals who do have an arrest record and therefore must check off the box, “yes,” the Firearms and Special Licensing Division of the Division of State Police instructs the applicant to list all arrests, indicating charges, locations, dates of arrest and dispositions.“NOTICE: YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO DISCLOSE THE EXISTENCE OF ANY ARREST, CRIMINAL CHARGE OR CONVICTION, THE RECORDS OF WHICH HAVE GBEEN ERASED PURSUANT TO C.G.S. §§ 46-b-146, 54-142a. IF YOUR CRIMINAL RECORDS HAVE BEEN ERASED PURSUANT TO ONE OF THESE STATUTES, YOU MAY SWEAR UNDER OATH THAT YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN ARRESTED. CRIMINAL RECORDS THAT MAY BE ERASES ARE RECORDS PERTAINING TO A FINDING OF DELINQUENCY OR THAT A CHILDE WAS A MEMBER OF A FAMILY WITH SERVICE NEEDS (C.G.S. 46b-146), AN ADJUDICATION AS A YOUTHFUL OFFENDER (C.G.S. 54-76o), A CRIMINAL CHARGE THAT HAS BEEN DISMISSED OR NOLLED, A CRIMINAL CHARGE FOR WHICH THE PERSON HAS BEEN FOUND NOT GUILTY, OR A CONVICTION FOR WHICH THE PERSONA RECEIVED AN ABSOLUTE PARDON (C.G.S. 54-142a).”“WITH REGARD TO CRIMINAL HISTORY INFORMATION ARISING FROM JURISDICTIONS OTHER THAN THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT: YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO DISCLOSE THE EXISTENCE OF ANY ARREST, CRIMINAL CHARGE OR CONVICTION, THE RECORDS OF WHICH HAVE BEEN ERASED PURSUANT TO THE LAW OF THE OTHE RJURISDCITION. ADDITIONALLY, YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO DISCLOSE THE EXISTENCE OF AN ARREST ARISING FROM ANOTHER JURISDICTION IF YOU ARE PERMITTED UNDER THE LAW OF THAT JURISDICTION TO SWEAR UNDER OATH THAT YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN ARRESTED.”The Section pertaining to criminal history too, gets tricky. The applicant with an arrest record must, of course, be completely honest. Failure to admit an arrest record when required to do so, will not likely fool the Firearms and Special Licensing Unit of the Division of State Police. And, even if a handgun carry license should issue because a mistake was made, don’t think that you have “pulled the wool over the eyes” of the Licensing Official. For, at some point the truth will come out. You will lose your firearms; you will lose your handgun carry permit; and you will face federal prosecution and possibly State prosecution as well on the ground of unlawful possession of firearms contrary to law because of disability. On the other hand, whether you can properly check the corresponding check box, “no,” regarding ARREST RECORD, notwithstanding that you DO have an arrest record, this comes down to whether you fall within an exception as noted above. READ THE "NOTICE" CAREFULLY. The safest course of action for those applicants who do have an arrest record, whether or not it is apparent that the applicant falls within an exception to acknowledging the arrest record on the application, is to contact a licensed attorney before completing and sending in the application packet. That will prevent a multitude of sins if you make an error, intentionally or not, in filling out this section of the Application for a Connecticut handgun carry permit. For mistakes in accurate reporting have negative ramifications, not only in Connecticut, but in any other jurisdiction where a person is considering applying for a handgun carry permit or license.

CONVICTION OF A CRIME

The Firearms and Special Licensing Unit of the Division of State Police asks:“Have you ever been CONVICTED under the laws of this state, federal law or the laws of another jurisdiction?"Mr. Wright truthfully checks the appropriate check box, “no,” and proceeds to the next section of the Application.NOTE: TO THOSE APPLICANTS FOR A CONNECTICUT HANDGUN CARRY PERMIT WHO HAVE BEEN CONVICTED OF A CRIME EITHER IN CONNECTICUT, OR IN ANOTHER STATE, OR HAVE BEEN CONVICTED OF VIOLATION OF FEDERAL LAW, THAT APPLICANT MUST LIST ALL CONVICTIONS, INCLUDING, CHARGES, LOCATION , DATE OF ARREST, AND DISPOSITION.THE APPLICANT MUST ANSWER THIS QUESTION TRUTHFULLY, AND MUST PROVIDE COMPLETE ANSWERS. THE FIREARMS AND SPECIAL LICENSING UNIT WILL OBTAIN RECORDS, REGARDLESS OF HOW THE APPLICANT RESPONDS, BUT THE LICENSING OFFICIAL IS LOOKING FIRST AND FOREMOST FOR VERACITY ON THE PART OF APPLICANTS FOR HANDGUN CARRY PERMITS. IF AN APPLICANT IS LIAR, THAT ALONE IS GROUNDS FOR REJECTION OF ONE’S APPLICATION, FOR LYING ON THIS APPLICATION CONSTITUTES OVERT ADMISSION OF BAD CHARACTER, AND INDICATION THAT SUCH A PERSON SHOULD NOT BE IN POSSESSION OF FIREARMS.

PROBATION, PAROLE, OR WORK RELEASE

Other than arrest or conviction of a crime, or concomitant with arrest or conviction of a crime, the Firearms and Special Licensing Unit of the Division of State Police asks:“Are you currently on probation, parole, work release, in an alcohol and/or drug treatment program or other pre-trial diversionary program or currently released on personal recognizance, a written promise to appear or a bail bond for a pending court case?"Mr. Wright responds, truthfully, answering, “no,” by checking the appropriate check box and proceeds to the next section of the application.NOTE: THE FIREARMS AND SPECIAL LICENSING UNIT DOES NOT ASK FOR SPECIFIC INFORMATION AS SET FORTH IN THE PRIOR SECTIONS OF THE APPLICANT, NAMELY, CHARGES, LOCATION OF COURT, AND SPECIFIC DISPOSITION. THE QUESTION APPEARS MORE OPEN-ENDED, PARTLY, PERHAPS, BECAUSE PROBATION, PAROLE, WORK RELEASE, AND OTHER COURT ORDERS, RESPECTING SPECIFICALLY DRUG AND ALCOHOL TREATMENT ,REQUIRE THE APPLICANT HERE TO SPECIFY DETAILS OF CONVICTION AND ARREST IN THE PRIOR SECTIONS AND HAVING TO REPEAT THOSE IS REDUNDANT.

PROTECTIVE ORDERS AND RESTRAINING ORDERS

The Firearms and Special Licensing Unit of the Division of State Police asks:“Within the past five (5) years, have you been the subject of a Protective Order or Restraining Order issued by a court in a case involving the use, attempted use or threatened use of physical force against another person, regardless of the outcome or result of any related criminal case?”Mr. Wright truthfully answered, “no” to this question, checking off the appropriate box on the Application. He then proceeded to the next question.NOTE: ONCE AGAIN, THE FIREARMS AND SPECIAL LICENSING DIVISION ISN’T INSTRUCTING THE APPLICANT TO PROVIDE DETAILS OF THE EVENTS SURROUNDING THE ISSUANCE OF AN ORDER, BUT MERELY FACT OF IT AND, IF AN ORDER HAS BEEN ISSUED, THEN THE APPLICANT IS REQUIRED TO SET FORTH, ON THE APPLICATION, THE COURT THAT ISSUED THE ORDER.

MILITARY HISTORY

The Firearms and Special Licensing Unit of the Division of State Police asks:“Were you ever a member of the Armed Forces of the United States?” And, if so, the Applicant is requested to provide a copy of the applicant’s “DD-214”—the Discharge Documents.Mr. Wright was never a member for the Armed Forces, so he truthfully, responds by checking the appropriate checkbox, “no,” and he proceeds to the next section of the application.If the applicant were a member of the Armed Forces, the Firearms and Special Licensing Unit of the Division of State Police pointedly asks:“Were you ever discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States with a less than Honorable Discharge?” The Applicant must respond with either, “yes,” or, “no,” checking off the appropriate check box.

AUTOMATIC DISQUALIFICATIONS

The “PISTOL PERMIT/ELIGIBILITY CERTIFICATE APPLICATION” doesn’t state, but an individual applying for a pistol permit in Connecticut—or in any other jurisdiction for that matter, should be advised that, under FEDERAL LAW, specified grounds exist that prohibit a person from possessing a firearm. That means the Firearms and Special Licensing Division of the Division of State Police cannot and will not issue a handgun carry permit to anyone who is not permitted under federal law—wholly apart from the requirements of Connecticut Law—from possessing a firearm. Under Title 18 (Crimes and Criminal Procedure), Part I (Crimes), Chapter 44 (Firearms) of the Federal Penal Code, 18 U.S.C. § 922(d):“It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or otherwise dispose of any firearm or ammunition to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that such person—(1)  is under indictment for, or has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;(2)  is a fugitive from justice;(3)  is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802));(4)  has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution;(5)  who, being an alien—(A)  is illegally or unlawfully in the United States; or(B)  except as provided in subsection (y)(2), has been admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa (as that term is defined in section 101(a) (26) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a) (26));(6) [who] has been discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions;(7)  who, having been a citizen of the United States, has renounced his citizenship;(8)  is subject to a court order that restrains such person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner of such person or child of such intimate partner or person, or engaging in other conduct that would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury to the partner or child, except that this paragraph shall only apply to a court order that—(A)  was issued after a hearing of which such person received actual notice, and at which such person had the opportunity to participate; and(B) (i)  includes a finding that such person represents a credible threat to the physical safety of such intimate partner or child; or(ii)  by its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against such intimate partner or child that would reasonably be expected to cause bodily injury; or(9)  has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.”If you fall under any one or more of the above categories, then do not apply for a Connecticut permit to carry a pistol or revolver. Save your money. The Firearms and Special Licensing Division will deny you a permit to carry and you may be subject to federal and State criminal penalties for attempting to gain possession of a firearm by lying on the application. Worse, if you lie on the application and a permit is issued to you, and through the issuance of a permit you obtain a firearm, you are now in criminal possession of a firearm and subject to immediate arrest. AND, Be advised that, if a handgun permit is erroneously issued to you, because you lied on the Application, the DESPP will eventually become aware of the error. Don’t think that you will be able to fool the DESPP—that no further investigation won’t be done specifically to spot errors on an application. Further, suppose you are truthful in answering each question on the Application and yet you are under a disability that the Firearms and Special Licensing Unit Officer fails to spot, still, under federal law if you are not permitted lawfully to own a firearm, then the mere assertion you told the truth when completing the PISTOL PERMIT/ELIGIBILITY CERTIFICATE APPLICATION and that it is the fault of the DESPP in issuing you a handgun carry permit will not protect you from criminal liability. For, intent to be truthful is not a defense to the litany of disqualifications of Title 18. If a person isn’t permitted under federal and/or State law from possessing a firearm, then the fact that he or she has been issued a firearm’s license or permit erroneously will not provide one with a defense to the discharge of unlawful possession of a firearm.

PROOF OF TRAINING

On page 4, the last page of the PISTOL PERMIT/ELIGIBILITY CERTIFICATE APPLICATION, the applicant must attach a copy of his or her handgun training certificate, setting forth the agency that offered the training and issued the certificate, along with the Instructor’s name and ID Number.Mr. Wright made a copy of his Certificate and completed the application with the information requested.

DECLARATION

The Applicant must attest that the information he has provided in the PISTOL PERMIT/ELIGIBILITY CERTIFICATE APPLICATION is truthful and that the Applicant understands that an untruthful statement will void the Application. This DECLARATION is UNDER OATH. So, the Applicant must swear before a Notary Public and the Notary Public must duly notarize the Application.Mr. Wright duly signed his name and swore, before the Notary Public, that the contents of the Application that he completed were truthful. Mr. Wright and his attorney and professional security expert then made sure that the Application packet contained all documents that the Firearms and Special Licensing Unit of the Division of State Police of the DESPP required, that all portions of the Application that Mr. Wright had to complete were in fact answered, and that the Application packet contained Mr. Wright’s personal checks to cover the processing of his Application.Mr. Wright waited a few weeks. His attorney checked with the Firearms and Special Licensing Unit, regularly, to make sure, first, that the Licensing Unit did receive the Application, and subsequently, that Mr. Wright’s Application was complete and, lastly, that the Application was being prosecuted.Mr. Wright was eventually contacted by the Firearms and Special Licensing Unit of the Division of State Police. Mr. Wright was required to travel to Connecticut to receive his Connecticut Pistol Permit.

NOTICE: APPEAL PROCESS FOR PERMITS

The final section of the Application provides the Applicant with the process for Appeal if his or her Application is denied. Further discussion of the appeals process.In the concluding segment of analysis of Connecticut handgun carry permit application procedures, Subpart Six, we discuss renewals. Although renewals are generally a relatively easy and painless process, they do take time and they do require more outlay of cash. Furthermore, each jurisdiction has its own timetable for renewals. This causes a busy entrepreneur like Mr. Wright more than a little frustration. Renewals of handgun licenses must not be taken lightly. Missing a renewal date means that the license or permit holder will have to go through the entire ordeal of obtaining a permit again with the concomitant monetary outlays, aggravation, and delays in the processing of the application.National concealed handgun carry reciprocity legislation will go a very long way in streamlining the process of obtaining and renewing a handgun carry permit, as, if Congressional Legislation is drafted well, then the handgun holder of a valid handgun permit or license will only be required to have on his person, when carrying a handgun, just one valid handgun carry permit. That means, too, that the permit or license holder will only need to renew one handgun license and not several that many license holders must now carry—that Mr. Wright must, at present, hold.We conclude our discussion of Connecticut handgun licensing laws and procedures with the next installment of the Road Trip Series: Part Four, Subpart Six, a Postscript. We will then move to a detailed analysis of Massachusetts handgun licensing laws and procedures, as we continue the Road Trip Series of articles.____________________________________________________________Copyright © 2017 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved

CONNECTICUT PROCEDURE FOR UNRESTRICTED CONCEALED HANDGUN CARRY

A ROAD TRIP WITH A HANDGUN: The Case For Universal State Concealed Handgun Carry Reciprocity

THE CIRCUITOUS, TORTUOUS ROUTE TO OBTAINING MULTIPLE UNRESTRICTED CONCEALED HANDGUN LICENSES AS EXPERIENCED BY OUR INTREPID CITIZEN, MR. WRIGHT.

The Adventures of One Law-Abiding American Citizen as He Traverses the Minefield of Firearms’ Laws, Attempting to Secure for Himself Multiple Concealed Handgun Carry Licenses from A Multitude Of Jurisdictions That He May Exercise His Fundamental Right To Keep And Bear Arms Under The Second Amendment To The U.S. Constitution For The Purpose Of Self-Defense

A Comprehensive Analysis of The Procedures for Obtaining a Concealed Handgun Carry License in Various States for The Layman

PART FOUR: THE CONNECTICUT FIREARM APPLICATION PROCEDURE FOR ACQUIRING AN UNRESTRICTED CONCEALED HANDGUN CARRY LICENSE: THE APPLICATION PACKET

SUBPART FOUR OF THE CONNECTICUT HANDGUN CARRY PROCESS APPLICATION

INTRODUCTION

If you have arrived at our website for the first time, and this is the first article you have come across on our ROAD TRIP series, the Arbalest Quarrel has been discussing, in the last few articles, the application process for securing a Connecticut handgun carry license.The State’s licensing Statute refers to the handgun carry licenses its Division of State Police issues to qualified applicants as: “State Permit to Carry Pistols and Revolvers.” In this discussion, for brevity, we will refer to the type of license a qualified handgun permit holder must carry with him on his person—when also carrying a pistol or revolver on his person—as a ‘handgun carry permit.’ The reader should understand that this shortened expression does not appear in the State Statute and that the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit of the Division of State Police of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESSP) does not use this expression either. Still, the shortened expression carries the essential meaning of the longer, statutory, expression and will be a useful for our purpose.If you haven’t read SUBPART ONE through SUBPART THREE of the ROAD TRIP series of articles on CONNECTICUT’S PERMIT PROCEDURES FOR HANDGUN LICENSING, we suggest you do so before reading the instant article as our articles follow a straightforward linear progression and we place the licensing scheme of this State, and others that we discuss, in appropriate context.

WHY ARE WE DOING A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF ARTICLES EXPLAINING THE LAWS AND PROCEDURES FOR OBTAINING HANDGUN CARRY LICENSES FROM REPRESENTATIVE JURISDICTIONS?

One reason we are doing this series is to bring to the reader’s attention the costly, time-consuming, frustrating, and often confoundingly complex process of obtaining multiple handgun carry licenses from multiple jurisdictions. The Arbalest Quarrel has commenced this formal series of articles with the aim of systematically laying out the handgun licensing procedures of selected jurisdictions. We hope and trust that these articles will save our readers considerable time if they are contemplating applying for and securing a handgun carry license from any one or more of the jurisdictions that are the subject of our attention in the ROAD TRIP series of articles.There is, however, another reason the Arbalest Quarrel is doing this ROAD TRIP series  and in the specific manner presented—through the experiences of an actual individual, an American citizen and successful businessman whom we refer to as Mr. Wright, to protect his identity. By personalizing the process, we emphasize how an otherwise dry subject has a real-world impact on a living person, a law-abiding American citizen who has been forced to engage in the time-consuming, costly, often frustrating process of having first to obtain and then to renew on a continuous basis multiple handgun licenses from multiple jurisdictions. He must do this even as he seeks nothing more nor less than to exercise his fundamental, sacred right to keep and bear arms for the lawful, recognized purpose of self-defense.The application process for securing any firearm license, let alone an unrestricted “full carry” permit, is not an easy process. It requires considerable time and attention to detail. If an application is incomplete or completed improperly, those governmental authorities tasked with processing an applicant’s handgun or long gun application will cease doing so and whatever time and money the applicant has spent in the process will be for naught.Understand, too, as we here emphasize, and as the ROAD TRIP series clearly illustrates, firearms’ application and processes and procedures are generally time-consuming, often confusing, ever duplicative, inevitably tedious, and invariably expensive. In several jurisdictions the exercise of one’s Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is only available to those American citizens who can afford the expense of securing gun licenses—an expense that one must bear beyond the cost of handguns, long guns, supplies, tools, and ammunition--and those American citizens who have the fortitude and stoic resolve to follow through with the lengthy application process. Renewing one's firearms’ licenses involve yet more time and expense, and create additional aggravation for the law-abiding gun license or permit holder.Furthermore, in “MAY ISSUE” States, one’s application for a handgun carry license may be denied even if the person is not otherwise prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm, which is to say, the applicant for a handgun license is not under a disability—defined in State and Federal Statute—that operates as an automatic exclusion from possessing firearms.In “MAY ISSUE” States an applicant for the most coveted gun license—and the one generally most meaningful to the notion of self-defense, namely a concealed handgun carry permit or license—must demonstrate “NEED” sufficient to support issuance of a handgun license.The mere fact the applicant is not under disability is insufficient to warrant issuance of a handgun carry license to that applicant in “MAY ISSUE” jurisdictions. The applicant must present a case for issuance of the handgun license, to the satisfaction of the official tasked for issuing those licenses or permits. That means the applicant must present a convincing case for issuance of a concealed handgun carry permit or license to that applicant beyond the mere recitation of the fact that and proof of the fact that he or she is under no disability.But, what constitutes “NEED” sufficient to support issuance of a handgun license to a person not under disability often differs from one jurisdiction to the next. Contrariwise, in “SHALL ISSUE” States, a showing of need to carry a handgun isn’t required. So long as a person isn’t under disability, the licensing authority will issue a handgun carry permit or license to that person. The licensing authority doesn’t have discretion in the matter to deny a person, not under disability, from lawfully carrying a handgun in “SHALL ISSUE” jurisdictions. That means the licensing authority will issue a person a handgun carry license or permit to that person as long as that person is under no federal or State disability.

IS CONNECTICUT A “MAY ISSUE” OR A “SHALL ISSUE” JURISDICTION?

Is Connecticut a “MAY ISSUE” State or a “SHALL ISSUE” State? You might think the matter would be clear enough from a review of the firearms’ licensing laws of a State and, from a purely logical point of view, you might think a State has to be either one or the other; not both; and not neither. In Connecticut, however, fuzzy logic takes over. It isn’t clear, as you will see as we discuss the actual application process.

ONCE A PERSON RECEIVES HIS OR HER COVETED HANDGUN CARRY LICENSE, THAT PERSON MUST ALWAYS BE ON GUARD NOT TO FORFEIT IT.

Even after a person secures a license, he or she must be mindful of the laws governing firearm’s use. Keep uppermost in mind: What is so very difficult to obtain is, on the other hand, extremely easy to lose. As in any other jurisdiction that issues handgun carry permits, the holder of Connecticut handgun carry permit will forfeit the handgun carry permit, and his firearms, if that handgun carry permit holder violates Connecticut firearms laws in any manner. Violations may be as innocuous as failing to meet renewal of handgun carry permit deadlines. Or, violations may be as serious as mishandling or misusing firearms or falling into one or more disability categories, after issuance of the handgun carry permit, such as conviction for domestic violence.Keep in mind, too, that many jurisdictions do not wish for civilians to own and possess firearms. Those jurisdictions argue that firearms in the hands of the average law-abiding, rational citizen, notwithstanding, serves only to reduce public safety—and public safety is, ostensibly at least, the primary concern of State legislatures when they enact firearms' laws. The right of the individual American citizen to keep and bear arms often takes a back seat to and is often perceived as inconsistent with the State's concern to maximize public safety, even though, in truth, there is no inconsistency between firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens and public safety. In fact, firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens promotes public safety as many scientific studies demonstrate. Firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens, then, does not detract from public safety, contrary to those who assert that it does. Such jurisdictions that abhor the presence of firearms in the hands of the average law-abiding citizen, and, so, are openly averse to the notion of the Second Amendment right of the people to keep and bear arms, yet assert inconsistently and hypocritically the existence of the right of the people to keep and bear arms in their State Constitutions or otherwise assert that right in State Statute--mirroring the language of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution--even as they enact laws to constrain and constrict and restrict its application. How often does the public hear antigun zealots in State Legislatures and in Congress assert speciously and incongruously, that "of course we support the Second Amendment," even as they roll out another set of purported "common-sense laws" to curb the exercise of that very right--as if to convince the public that the assertion of the right is enough to dampen criticism that they mean no less than to restrict the exercise of that right and, eventually, to destroy it altogether.Since the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as a codification of the natural right to keep and bear arms cannot be denied, those jurisdictions that rather not issue firearms' licenses and permits, do so only grudgingly, if at all. Thus, they have no desire to make the process simple, or painless, or cheap, or quick. The firearm licensing process, across the Country, must be simplified. Congressional enactment of an effective national concealed handgun carry reciprocity law would go a long way in simplifying the process.This takes us to the third reason we are doing this series. As Donald Trump has now taken the oath of high Office—he is no longer simply President-elect Donald Trump; he is President Donald Trump. There is a high probability that Americans will see national concealed handgun carry reciprocity legislation enacted in the foreseeable future, in some form. If so, the present tortuous exercise one must engage in, applying for and obtaining multiple handgun carry licenses from multiple governmental jurisdictions, will no longer be necessary. A law-abiding citizen will have in his or her possession, then, one license that will permit the handgun license holder, to carry, lawfully, a handgun, concealed on that person, in every jurisdiction—or, at least, will allow that person to carry a handgun lawfully in many more jurisdictions than is currently the case as several jurisdictions have established reciprocity agreements with one or more other jurisdictions. Many, though, have not.Ideally, the issuance to a person of one valid concealed handgun carry license would work much like a motorist’s license. One valid motorist’s license or operator’s license issued in one State, allows the holder of said valid license to drive his vehicle lawfully in every other State. Of course, driving an automobile on State roads and highways is a privilege, not a fundamental, inherent right. Yet, the ease by which one applies for and obtains a motorist’s or operator’s license would suggest that driving a vehicle on State or interstate roads and highways is a right. Owning and possessing firearms is, on the other hand, a fundamental, inherent right, preexistent in the people. There’s no question about it. But the difficulties in obtaining a license to exercise that fundamental right coupled with the fact that one must, in virtually all jurisdictions, obtain a firearms’ license or permit, issued by a governing body, to fully enjoy that right in the broadest possible sense, reduces a right to a mere privilege, bestowed by government on the individual. Of course, any privilege given is one that can easily be taken away.Let’s now explore, further, the time-consuming, costly, and, often difficult process of obtaining a handgun carry permit that allows one lawfully to carry a pistol or revolver in Connecticut.

THE CONNECTICUT HANDGUN CARRY APPLICATION PACKET

NOTE: CONNECTICUT PISTOL PERMIT PROCEDURES FOR NON-RESIDENTS ARE DIFFERENT THAN FOR THOSE WHO RESIDE IN THE STATE: NON-RESIDENTS MUST SECURE A VALID HANDGUN CARRY PERMIT FROM ANOTHER JURISDICTION BEFORE AN APPLICATION FOR A CONNECTICUT HANDGUN CARRY PERMIT WILL BE CONSIDERED

Mr. Wright’s attorney, working together with a professional security consultant, has done the legwork for Mr. Wright. The attorney first perused the State website. He determined that a non-resident must contact the DESSP for application materials. The initial forms are not provided online. Mr. Wright’s attorney then contacted, by phone, the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit of the Division of State Police of the DESSP.  The phone number of the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit of the Division of State Police is provided on the State website.Mr. Wright’s attorney spoke with an Officer of the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit of the Division of State Police of the DESSP, requesting handgun carry application materials. The Officer was diligent and did respond immediately to the telephone request as Mr. Wright’s attorney received the application materials a few days later. The application materials consisted of the following: The first document that Mr. Wright’s attorney saw when he retrieved the documents from the manila envelope, was a green sheet, titled, "CONNECTICUT STATE PISTOL PERMITS," subtitled, “OUT OF STATE RESIDENTS.”The sheet listed “mandatory requirements.” They are as follows:1) Copy of permit to carry a pistol or revolver, issued by another jurisdiction. 2) DPS 46 Application Card for State Permit to Carry Pistols and Revolvers, signed and completed 3) DPS 799-C Application for non-residents, completed, signed and notarized 4) DPS 129-C, completed, signed and notarized with 2 by 2 color passport photo attached 5) Fingerprint card, signed and completed, including fingerprints 6) Cashiers check or money order for $70.00 payable to: “Treasurer, State of Connecticut”—for Application7) Cashier’s check or money order for $50.00 payable to: “Treasurer, State of Connecticut”—(for CT fingerprint processing) 8) Cashiers check or money order for $12.00 payable to “Treasurer, State of Connecticut” (for FBI fingerprint processing) 9) Documentation of successfully completing a Firearms Safety course for pistols and revolvers that has been “approved” by the Commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection as required by CT State Statute 29-28(b). 10) A copy of citizenship (birth certificate or United States Passport). Send a copy, do not send original. 11) Legal Aliens Residents need to provide a copy of their Alien Registration card and 90-day proof of residency within their state. If applicable, a copy of naturalization papers should be sent with application.12) If applicable, include a copy of form DD214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty from military which MUST specifically state discharge status.ALL INFORMATION MUST BE COMPLETED IN ORDER FOR YOUR APPLICATION TO BE PROCESSED. FULL LEGAL FIRST NAME, MIDDLE INITIAL AND LAST NAME REQUIRED. ****INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS PACKAGES WILL BE RETURNED!!!!!*** Questions can be directed to the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit at the address or number below. Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Division of State Police 1111Country Club Road Middletown, CT 06457Telephone: (860) 685-8494 Fax: (860) 685-8496_____________________________________Along with the green cover sheet, the Connecticut Application for State Permit to Carry Pistols and Revolvers, included the following:1) A small, indexed size orange card, titled, “APPLICATION FOR STATE PERMIT TO CARRY PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS." 2) A blue four page folded instruction sheet, the first page of which has three columns: the first column provides “Instructions for State Pistol Permits” for residents of Connecticut; the second, middle column, provides “Instructions for Non-Resident State Pistol Permits”; and the third column provides instructions for “Eligibility Certificate to Purchase Pistols or Revolves and/or eligibility Certificates to Purchase Long Guns.” The interior two pages and last page of the blue four page instruction sheet is the comprehensive application form proper. 3) In the application packet is a white sheet on which the applicant is to attach a recent passport photograph. Note: the passport photograph must have been taken within six months of the application. 4) There is also included a white Fingerprint Card.Mr. Wright, together with his attorney, and with his professional security consultant looked over the documents and prepared to complete them.Mr. Wright’s attorney first made certain that he had in front of him Section 29-28 of the Connecticut State Statute. The Statute is critical. If in doubt about anything in the application, the Statute is the first critical “go-to” information source to get a handle on Connecticut’s handgun licensing procedures. Beyond State Statute, regulating the issuance of handgun carry licenses,We have provided you, the reader, with the critical portion of this document for non-resident, Section 29-28(b), below, since Mr. Wright isn’t a resident of Connecticut. Note: we have also made a copy of this Statutory section in SUBPART THREE of this Article.The pertinent portion of the Statute reads:Sec. 29-28. Permit for sale at retail of pistol or revolver. Permit to carry pistol or revolver. Confidentiality of name and address of permit holder. Permits for out-of-state residents. (b) Upon the application of any person having a bona fide permanent residence within the jurisdiction of any such authority, such chief of police, warden or selectman may issue a temporary state permit to such person to carry a pistol or revolver within the state, provided such authority shall find that such applicant intends to make no use of any pistol or revolver which such applicant may be permitted to carry under such permit other than a lawful use and that such person is a suitable person to receive such permit. No state or temporary state permit to carry a pistol or revolver shall be issued under this subsection if the applicant (1) has failed to successfully complete a course approved by the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection in the safety and use of pistols and revolvers including, but not limited to, a safety or training course in the use of pistols and revolvers available to the public offered by a law enforcement agency, a private or public educational institution or a firearms training school, utilizing instructors certified by the National Rifle Association or the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and a safety or training course in the use of pistols or revolvers conducted by an instructor certified by the state or the National Rifle Association, (2) has been convicted of (A) a felony, or (B) on or after October 1, 1994, a violation of subsection (c) of section 21a-279 or section 53a-58, 53a-61, 53a-61a, 53a-62, 53a-63, 53a-96, 53a-175, 53a-176, 53a-178 or 53a-181d, (3) has been convicted as delinquent for the commission of a serious juvenile offense, as defined in section 46b-120, (4) has been discharged from custody within the preceding twenty years after having been found not guilty of a crime by reason of mental disease or defect pursuant to section 53a-13, (5) (A) has been confined in a hospital for persons with psychiatric disabilities, as defined in section 17a-495, within the preceding sixty months by order of a probate court, or (B) has been voluntarily admitted on or after October 1, 2013, to a hospital for persons with psychiatric disabilities, as defined in section 17a-495, within the preceding six months for care and treatment of a psychiatric disability and not solely for being an alcohol-dependent person or a drug-dependent person as those terms are defined in section 17a-680, (6) is subject to a restraining or protective order issued by a court in a case involving the use, attempted use or threatened use of physical force against another person, (7) is subject to a firearms seizure order issued pursuant to subsection (d) of section 29-38c after notice and hearing, (8) is prohibited from shipping, transporting, possessing or receiving a firearm pursuant to 18 USC 922(g)(4), (9) is an alien illegally or unlawfully in the United States, or (10) is less than twenty-one years of age. Nothing in this section shall require any person who holds a valid permit to carry a pistol or revolver on October 1, 1994, to participate in any additional training in the safety and use of pistols and revolvers. No person may apply for a temporary state permit to carry a pistol or revolver more than once within any twelve-month period, and no temporary state permit to carry a pistol or revolver shall be issued to any person who has applied for such permit more than once within the preceding twelve months. Any person who applies for a temporary state permit to carry a pistol or revolver shall indicate in writing on the application, under penalty of false statement in such manner as the issuing authority prescribes, that such person has not applied for a temporary state permit to carry a pistol or revolver within the past twelve months. Upon issuance of a temporary state permit to carry a pistol or revolver to the applicant, the local authority shall forward the original application to the commissioner. Not later than sixty days after receiving a temporary state permit, an applicant shall appear at a location designated by the commissioner to receive the state permit. The commissioner may then issue, to any holder of any temporary state permit, a state permit to carry a pistol or revolver within the state. Upon issuance of the state permit, the commissioner shall make available to the permit holder a copy of the law regarding the permit holder’s responsibility to report the loss or theft of a firearm and the penalties associated with the failure to comply with such law. Upon issuance of the state permit, the commissioner shall forward a record of such permit to the local authority issuing the temporary state permit. The commissioner shall retain records of all applications, whether approved or denied. The copy of the state permit delivered to the permittee shall be laminated and shall contain a full-face photograph of such permittee. A person holding a state permit issued pursuant to this subsection shall notify the issuing authority within two business days of any change of such person’s address. The notification shall include the old address and the new address of such person.”

COMPLETION OF THE DOCUMENTS

Mr. Wright intended to stop by the NYPD Licensing Division headquarters to have his fingerprints taken and he realized that he would need to obtain another colored passport photo since his original passport photo was more than six months old. He would attach the up-to-date photograph to the White Passport Photo sheet that was included in the application packet.Mr. Wright’s attorney, along with his professional security consultant and expert made certain that Mr. Wright had in his possession a certificate that demonstrated that Mr. Wright had in fact successfully passed an approved firearms safety training course that Connecticut law mandate. He would include the necessary documentation that he would be returning to the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit of the Division of State Police. The “Green” instruction sheet indicated that he can submit a copy of his certification. Prior successful completion of an approved firearms safety training course is a condition precedent to further processing of one’s application for a Connecticut handgun carry permit.Some jurisdictions that issue concealed handgun carry licenses, such as New York, do not require that the applicant successfully complete s firearm’s safety training course as a precondition to the issuance of the license. That is curious. One would think that a jurisdiction that has instituted a substantial number of stringent requirements for issuance of a concealed handgun carry permits or licenses would have instituted, as one requirement, evidence of satisfactory completion of a firearm’s safety training course. This is not to suggest that the Arbalest Quarrel is mandating that a jurisdiction ought to require satisfactory evidence of having completed such training; for, any responsible, rational person ought to understand how to properly use a firearm if that person expects to rely on it for self-defense. But personal responsibility is something one would expect from a law-abiding, sane person and citizen, living in a free Republic. Personal responsibility is not, we believe, something that should be imposed on the citizen by government, State or federal. In New York, though, it is unlikely the State Legislature dispensed with the requirement that an applicant for a concealed handgun carry license must have successfully completed a firearm’s safety training course as a precondition for issuance of a concealed handgun carry license because the New York State Legislature felt an applicant would invariably obtain that training anyway. More likely, given the draconian laws and codes in place for issuance of such licenses, one might logically conclude that New York abhors the idea that civilians should be allowed to possess firearms. By dispensing with the requirement that an individual show evidence of having successfully completed a firearm’s safety training course and, further, by avoiding providing the applicant with information on how to obtain that training, if a concealed handgun carry license is issued—perhaps even if a licensee requests that information—New York essentially washes its hands of its own responsibility for any potential mishap that might later occur as a result of an individual’s accidentally harming him or herself or others with a firearm.

THE CONNECTICUT FINGERPRINT CARD

Perusing the other documents, Mr. Wright’s attorney saw that only one fingerprint card was included in the packet, even though Mr. Wright’s fingerprints would be processed by the Connecticut Division of State Police and by the FBI. Mr. Wright must cut two checks for fingerprint processing: one for the State of Connecticut’s fingerprint processing and one for the FBI. Mr. Wright’s attorney thought the application packet should include two cards and since only one fingerprint card was provided in the application packet, Mr. Wright’s attorney wondered whether the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit had forgotten to include an additional fingerprint card. Mr. Wright’s attorney thereupon phoned the Special Licensing and Firearm’s Unit of the Division of State Police for clarification. The Officer with whom Mr. Wright’s attorney spoke informed the attorney that only one fingerprint card was necessary. The Special Licensing and Firearm’s Unit made no mistake. There was no oversight. The Officer acknowledged that, previously, two fingerprint cards were provided in handgun carry permit application packet, but that this was no longer done because it was unnecessary now that one fingerprint card was duplicated electronically for the FBI. Apparently, precision copies of the Fingerprint card are now technologically feasible. So, only one fingerprint card is included in the application materials.Mr. Wright would arrange for the NYPD to take his fingerprints since the NYPD Licensing Division was within the vicinity of Mr. Wright’s main business offices, and Mr. Wright already holds a valid unrestricted New York City handgun carry license. Mr. Wright was aware the NYPD would probably charge him a fee for having his fingerprints taken. Once they were taken, Mr. Wright would return the fingerprint card, together with the other completed documents, to the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit of the Division of State Police.Mr. Wright, together with his attorney and security expert then perused those portions of the application that Mr. Wright could complete by pen at his desk.

“THE APPLICATION FOR STATE PERMIT TO CARRY PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS”—AN ORANGE, INDEXED SIZE CARD

Mr. Wright’s attorney and professional security consultant took out the orange, index sized, titled, “APPLICATION FOR STATE PERMIT TO CARRY PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS.” Mr. Wright commenced to complete the card. Mr. Wright was instructed to list his residence address information, including his SSN and MOTOR VEHICLE LICENSE NUMBER. Mr. Wright was also required to list his vital statistics, namely: DOB, SEX, RACE, EYE COLOR, HEIGHT, and WEIGHT. The orange index card also included a box with the heading: “REASON FOR PERMIT.” This gave Mr. Wright and his team of experts pause.

WHAT CONSTITUTES A SUFFICIENTLY GOOD REASON FOR ISSUANCE OF A VAILD HANDGUN CARRY PERMIT TO A QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL WHO WISHES TO CARRY A HANDGUN LAWFULLY IN CONNECTICUT?

IS CONNECTICT A “MAY ISSUE” OR “SHALL ISSUE” STATE?

Mr. Wright thought the requirement that he state a reason for obtaining a handgun carry permit to carry a handgun lawfully in Connecticut should not be a cause for alarm or consternation. After all, the NYPD Licensing Division required Mr. Wright to provide the Division with a sufficiently good reason to issue Mr. Wright an unrestricted handgun carry license that would allow him to carry a handgun lawfully in the City.The NYPD Licensing Division considered that, if a business person explains he carries substantial amounts of cash to deposit in his or her bank account, on a regular basis on one or more days, during any given week, and, if the business person can satisfactorily prove that he carries substantial amounts of cash to deposit in a bank—which is established through voluminous documentation—and if the NYPD Licensing Division Officer determines to his personal satisfaction that the amount of cash a business person has on his person that he carries to a bank on a regular basis, in the regular course of his business, is substantial, then, in that case, the Licensing Division Officer may determine that sufficient cause exists for the issuance of either a restricted or unrestricted concealed handgun carry license. The issuance of a restricted or unrestricted New York City concealed handgun carry license by the Licensing Division Officer is not a simple, pro-forma checklist procedure. It is always, case-by-case. So, the Licensing Division Officer is given substantial discretion in the matter of issuing a concealed handgun carry license that allows a person to lawfully carry a concealed handgun on his person in the City. Essentially, the NYPD determines that the carrying of substantial cash places a person at more than usual risk of attack. But, what constitutes a substantial amount of cash is not predetermined.Mr. Wright wondered whether the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit of the Division of State Police of Connecticut was looking for a similarly sufficiently good reason to issue a permit to an otherwise qualified individual. Mr. Wright’s attorney was not so certain. A small block on a small index sized card was hardly room enough to explain in detail the assets that Mr. Wright carried with him on a daily basis that placed his life in jeopardy of assault. And, from a review of the materials in the application packet, there was no indication that Mr. Wright must provide substantial documentation pertaining to his business operations, unlike the voluminous documentation he had to provide to the NYPD Licensing Officer. What, then, was the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit looking for? Was this a “trick” question? Would it be enough for one simply to posit: “self-defense?”Clearly, if a person were applying for a handgun carry license to lawfully carry a handgun in New York City, “SELF-DEFENSE” would be a patently insufficient reason for issuance of a concealed handgun carry license in New York City. If that was the best reason for issuance of an NYPD concealed handgun carry license an applicant for a handgun license could come up with, then that person should spare him or herself the time, and energy, and expense of bothering to apply for a concealed carry license. The NYPD Licensing Officer would perfunctorily deny issuance of the license to that person.An applicant for a handgun carry license must demonstrate need to carry a handgun. Self-defense isn’t considered sufficient need to carry in New York City and in several other jurisdictions in the State of New York, for New York is a “MAY ISSUE,” State and “MAY ISSUE” in New York and especially in New York City and in many other jurisdictions in New York, and that means very few individuals will obtain a valid concealed handgun carry license. Indeed, Mr. Wright’s attorney was told, bluntly, when he spoke with one licensing Officer for  Nassau County, Long Island, New York, that the only individuals who can truly hope to obtain a concealed handgun carry license are judges and politicians. That is quite an admission! Such blatant comment implicates due process and equal protection concerns. But, we have to commend the officer's blunt honesty for admitting the truth. We suspect the officer wasn't pleased with what he evidently received as orders from superiors to deny issuance of concealed handgun carry licenses to law-abiding American citizens who are deemed to be mere ordinary folk.  But, concerning Connecticut, what was the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit of the Division of State Police looking for in the way of proof of need to carry a handgun?Mr. Wright’s attorney was concerned that improperly setting forth an acceptable reason in an otherwise seemingly innocuous portion of documentation materials could preclude Mr. Wright from obtaining a Connecticut handgun carry permit. The issue boiled down to whether Connecticut is a “MAY ISSUE” State or a “SHALL ISSUE” State.If Connecticut is truly a “MAY ISSUE” State, this means that no applicant is issued a handgun carry permit as a matter of right. In other words, THE STATE MUST LOOK TO NEED BEYOND THE MERE DESIRE TO CARRY A GUN, and the licensing official is generally given substantial discretion in the matter. Would this present a problem for Mr. Wright? How should he “fill-in” the box on the orange card that asked Mr. Wright to state a reason for applying for a Connecticut concealed handgun permit? Mr. Wright’s attorney decided he wouldn't second-guess what may constitute an appropriate response and, so, realized that the best course of action would be to contact the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit of the Connecticut Division of State Police, directly, and ask the question, point-blank, to ascertain what it was, exactly, that the State was looking for in terms of recognizing sufficient need for issuance of a handgun carry permit to a qualified applicant—an applicant who is not otherwise under some disability--a disability that would preclude that person from possessing a firearm and therefore mandates rejection of one's application for a Connecticut handgun carry permit.Mr. Wright’s attorney learned through his discussion with the Officer with whom he spoke that, unlike New York City, the stated need of “SELF-DEFENSE” is an adequate reason for issuance of a handgun carry permit to a qualified individual in Connecticut. In fact, Mr. Wright’s attorney surmised, from the brief conversation he had, with the Officer of the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit, that, going into detail or setting forth any reason other than “SELF-DEFENSE” might raise a red flag as to one’s mental stability. One should not say—indeed one should never say on an application for an kind of firearm's permit or license that: “I FEEL THREATENED BY AFRICAN AMERICANS,” or “I FEEL THREATENED BY WHITES,” or “I FEEL THREATENED BY PRACTITIONERS OF ISLAM.” In other words, KEEP IT SIMPLE. IF  “SELF-DEFENSE” IS REASON ENOUGH FOR ISSUANCE OF A HANDGUN CARRY PERMIT IN CONNECTICUT, THEN DO NOT ATTEMPT TO EMBELLISH THAT REASON. In fact, “SELF-DEFENSE” is a salient reason any law-abiding American citizen would have for carrying a handgun.No more need be said in respect to one’s NEED for a handgun and no more ought to said than “SELF DEFENSE,” as one’s stated and real need for a handgun carry permit. Indeed, we wonder that, if ‘SELF-DEFENSE’ is the one primary, adequate reason for carrying a handgun, why would a jurisdiction instruct a person to state a reason that is obvious on its face--redundant really? It may be that Connecticut is looking to weed out individuals who do not have a documented history of mental illness but who might nonetheless set forth a need to carry a handgun in Connecticut that, once again, raises a red flag as to their mental stability. Or, it may be based on nothing more than an understanding that, because Connecticut is technically a “MAY ISSUE” State--as the firearm licensing statute specifically states that the Commissioner MAY ISSUE a license--so he doesn't have to, notwithstanding that a person is qualified to carry a weapon because that person is under no disability and meets all other procedural requirements--the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit of the Division of State Police must instruct an applicant to clearly and categorically assert a reason, on an application document for applying for a handgun carry permit, even if a response is pro forma and perfunctory and even if no further investigation into the stated need is carried out by the governmental authority--the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit of the Division of State Police--tasked with the processing of all applications for handgun carry permits in Connecticut.Again, the language of the Connecticut State firearm licensing Statute, as the language of the firearm licensing Statutes of all States, dictates whether the State is officially considered a “MAY ISSUE” or “SHALL ISSUE” State.Let’s look at the pertinent language of the handgun carry permit Statute of Connecticut once again:Sec. 29-28. Permit for sale at retail of pistol or revolver. Permit to carry pistol or revolver. Confidentiality of name and address of permit holder. Permits for out-of-state residents. (b) Upon the application of any person having a bona fide permanent residence within the jurisdiction of any such authority, such chief of police, warden or selectman may issue a temporary state permit to such person to carry a pistol or revolver within the state, provided such authority shall find that such applicant intends to make no use of any pistol or revolver which such applicant may be permitted to carry under such permit other than a lawful use and that such person is a suitable person to receive such permit. . . . Upon issuance of a temporary state permit to carry a pistol or revolver to the applicant, the local authority shall forward the original application to the commissioner. Not later than sixty days after receiving a temporary state permit, an applicant shall appear at a location designated by the commissioner to receive the state permit. The commissioner may then issue, to any holder of any temporary state permit, a state permit to carry a pistol or revolver within the state. Upon issuance of the state permit, the commissioner shall make available to the permit holder a copy of the law regarding the permit holder’s responsibility to report the loss or theft of a firearm and the penalties associated with the failure to comply with such law. Upon issuance of the state permit, the commissioner shall forward a record of such permit to the local authority issuing the temporary state permit. The commissioner shall retain records of all applications, whether approved or denied. The copy of the state permit delivered to the permittee shall be laminated and shall contain a full-face photograph of such permittee. A person holding a state permit issued pursuant to this subsection shall notify the issuing authority within two business days of any change of such person’s address. The notification shall include the old address and the new address of such person.”The “MAY ISSUE” language in the Statute is clear and categorical and sets forth that the applicable licensing authority MAY ISSUE a “TEMPORARY STATE PERMIT,” and, within sixty days of issuance of the “TEMPORARY STATE PERMIT,” the applicable licensing authority “MAY ISSUE” “THE “STATE PERMIT TO CARRY A PISTOL OR REVOLVER WITHIN THE STATE.”--THE PERMANENT PERMIT TO CARRY A PISTOL OR REVOLVER WITHIN THE STATE.So, the Statute is saying that the CHIEF OF POLICE, WARDEN OR SELECTMAN may issue a “TEMPORARY STATE PERMIT” but he doesn’t have to, and thereafter, within sixty days, if the applicant does receive a “TEMPORARY STATE PERMIT,” the applicant must apply for the “STATE PERMIT TO CARRY A PISTOL OR REVOLVER” and the Commissioner, for his part, may issue the “STATE PERMIT TO CARRY A PISTOL OR REVOLVERS, but the State Commissioner, too, is not required to issue the Permit. What does this REALLY mean? We think this means that, if a person, who is not under any disability asserts that he desires a STATE PERMIT TO CARRY A PISTOL OR REVOLVER in Connecticut, for no other reason than “SELF DEFENSE” and, if “SELF DEFENSE” is, as the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit Officer honestly says that “SELF DEFENSE” is a perfectly adequate reason for issuance of a STATE PERMIT TO CARRY A PISTOL OR REVOLVER in Connecticut, without any further explanatory reason required, and, if the Commissioner thereupon issues a “STATE PERMIT TO CARRY A PISTOL OR REVOLVER,” without further ado, then, in effect, and for all practical purposes, Connecticut is a “SHALL ISSUE” State and this is a good thing. That would suggest that the only reason the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit of the Division of State Police requires an applicant for a handgun carry permit to assert a reason for making application for a handgun carry permit at all is simply to comply with the stated language of the State Statute, and nothing more, because such permit will, it is reasonably presumed, always be issued.However, if the Commissioner can, at will, and at whim, issue or refrain from issuing a “STATE PERMIT TO CARRY A PISTOL OR REVOLVER” at his discretion, then Connecticut is, as State Statute makes plain, a TRUE “MAY ISSUE” State, and a person has no understanding of and can have no understanding of a true reason for denial of his or her application for a STATE PERMIT TO CARRY A PISTOL OR REVOLVER because the Statute doesn’t require the Commissioner to give a reason for denying a person issuance of a PERMIT TO CARRY A PISTOL OR REVOLVER. The only ultimate recourse for an individual who has been denied issuance of a Connecticut handgun carry permit is to appeal to the Court, arguing bad faith and arbitrary and capricious denial of a PERMIT TO CARRY A PISTOL OR REVOLVER. “MAY ISSUE” States always pose “RED HERRINGS” for the law-abiding citizen, who is not under disability, who desires to carry a handgun lawfully in a State.So, until Mr. Wright’s application for a Connecticut PERMIT TO CARRY A PISTOL OR REVOLVER is processed, we cannot say whether Connecticut is a true “MAY ISSUE” STATE where the ultimate licensing official has absolute discretion for issuing or refraining from issuing a handgun carry license or permit with little recourse for the applicant apart from administrative review and further court review of denial to issue, or Connecticut is, in effect, a “SHALL ISSUE” State, despite the language of Statute, because a law-abiding citizen, not under disability who complies with all administrative requirements, will invariably be issued a STATE PERMIT TO CARRY A PISTOL OR REVOLVER.In the next segment of this article, we will continue our analysis of the application process, when Mr. Wright, with the assistance of his attorney and his professional security consultant and expert complete the detailed, “PISTOL PERMIT/ELIGIBILITY CERTIFICATE APPLICATION” and we look, as well, at the renewal process in Connecticut._______________________________Copyright © 2017 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved

IS USE OF ‘CCW,’ IN REFERENCE TO CONNECTICUT’S PERMIT TO CARRY HANDGUNS APPROPRIATE?

In the latest set of articles in the continuing ROAD TRIP series, the Arbalest Quarrel discussed the handgun permit schema of Connecticut. The State Legislature has tasked to the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit of Connecticut’s Division of State Police the processing of applications for permits to carry pistols and revolvers. The Division of State Police is a component of The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESSP).In analyzing Connecticut gun permit laws and procedures the Arbalest Quarrel has used the acronym ‘CCW’ (‘Concealed Carry Weapon’) as a shorthand notation for the lengthier phrase, “Permit to Carry Pistols and Revolvers,” which is the official, statutorily correct phrase.The acronym ‘CCW’ doesn’t appear in Connecticut State Statute and it isn’t an acronym that the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit of the Connecticut Division of State Police uses to describe handgun permits.The question is whether our use of the acronym ‘CCW’ is acceptable shorthand notation for the lengthier official phrase, “State Permit to Carry Pistols and Revolvers.” The specific phrase, ‘permit to carry pistol or revolver’ appears in  Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-28, titled, “Permit for sale at retail of pistol or revolver. Permit to carry pistol or revolver. Confidentiality of name and address of permit holder. Permits for out-of-state residents.”

WHY HAVE WE BROUGHT THIS MATTER UP?

Upon reading our latest article on Connecticut firearms’ laws and licensing procedures, an expert on Connecticut gun laws contacted the Arbalest Quarrel, yesterday, January 18, 2017, exclaiming that we should not have used the acronym, ‘CCW,’ in reference to Connecticut handgun permits because, as this party said, in part, “Connecticut does not have a 'ccw'. We have a Permit to Carry Pistols and Revolvers.”The Arbalest Quarrel is sensitive about the information it provides to its readers. Our goal is to provide the reader with comprehensive, detailed, and accurate information about State and federal firearms’ laws. We therefore undertook an investigation of the points made by this individual to ascertain whether the acronym, ‘CCW,’ as a shorthand descriptor of the lengthy statutory phrase, 'Permit to Carry Pistol or Revolver,’ is inappropriate because, 'CCW,' misconstrues the kind of handgun permit or license the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit of the Division of State Police issues to qualified applicants.To be sure, every State has its own nomenclature apropos of the handgun licenses and permits it issues to qualified applicants.The party who took exception with our use of the acronym, ‘CCW,’ also said, “There is no such thing as concealment in Connecticut as far as the law is concerned.” Now this assertion raises a bone of contention.  The Arbalest Quarrel takes the position that the point is not precisely true because, while a holder of a valid Connecticut Permit to Carry Pistols and Revolvers may carry a handgun openly, the holder of a valid permit to carry may also carry a handgun concealed. How do we know this? We know this to be true because we had contacted the Division of State Police before posting our articles on Connecticut handgun licensing and we spoke directly with an Officer of the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit of the Division of State Police. The Officer of the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit told us matter-of- factly that the Connecticut handgun permit holder may carry his weapon either openly or concealed on his person as the permit holder wishes. Ostensibly, the expert on Connecticut gun laws who contacted us, knows this, but then his assertion that “There is no such thing as concealment in Connecticut as far as the law is concerned” is not consistent with the clear import of the statement he makes. It may be that this party meant nothing more than to point out to us that Connecticut law is silent about how the holder of a valid Connecticut handgun carry permit may carry a handgun. But, then, if there is no such thing as concealment in Connecticut as far as the law is concerned because Connecticut law is silent on the subject, then there is no such thing as open carry in Connecticut either, as far as the law is concerned, as Connecticut law, to the extent that our research has shown, appears to be silent on that as well. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-35b, says, simply, "The holder of a permit issued pursuant to section 29-28 shall carry such permit upon one's person while carrying such pistol or revolver." The Statute simply doesn't specify the manner in which the pistol or revolver is to be carried on one's person--whether, only openly, or only concealed, or either openly or concealed, as the permit holder wishes.Of course, assuming, as is the case, according to the licensing Officer with whom we spoke that the holder of a valid handgun permit may carry a handgun, in Connecticut, openly or concealed, as the permit holder wishes, why it is that anyone, who is not otherwise out hunting in the wild, would want to carry a handgun openly, strikes us as odd to say the least. But, the question here is whether the acronym, 'CCW,' is an appropriate and fair shorthand descriptor for handgun permits the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit of the Division of State Police issues to qualified applicants.Now, some jurisdictions that issue handgun weapons’ permits or licenses do not allow one to carry a handgun openly. In that case, use of the acronym, ‘CCW,’ is arguably an appropriate descriptor for handgun permits or licenses issued by the jurisdiction whether the jurisdiction uses the acronym, ‘CCW,’ or not; and we trust no one would take issue with us for using the acronym, ‘CCW,’ in that instance in respect to those jurisdictions that do not allow the carrying of a handgun openly--that is to say--do not allow a handgun license holder to carry a weapon on his or her person, in plain sight.But, if the expression, 'CCW,' connotes a permit or license to carry a handgun openly or concealed where the disjunctive, 'or,' is used in the inclusive, not exclusive sense—the question is whether we have been remiss in using the abbreviation, ‘CCW,’ to describe Connecticut’s Permit to Carry Pistols and Revolvers” since the holder of a valid Connecticut handgun permit can carry his handgun either concealed or openly.A more apt acronym here might be “RTC” (‘Right to Carry’) as that acronym does not specify that the holder of a gun permit or gun license must carry a gun in any particular way. That said, if the notation, ‘CCW,’ is used connotatively to suggest a person may but is not required to carry a handgun concealed--which is what we surmise most, if not all, individuals who hold a valid handgun permit or license to carry would wish to do if they were in fact carrying a handgun in public, so as not to alarm other members of the public and to preserve one's privacy and security--then the fact that one may carry a gun openly in public, in lieu of carrying a weapon concealed, is beside the point and essentially irrelevant.This is not just our thought about the matter. Through our research, we found a Connecticut Court that, when discussing Connecticut’s gun permits, made use of the phrase “concealed carry permit” expressly to refer, as a shorthand phrase, to Connecticut’s Permit to Carry Pistols and Revolvers. The acronym “CCW” is functionally equivalent to the phrase, “concealed carry permit.” So, from a legal standpoint, the Arbalest Quarrel has some legal support for using the acronym, 'CCW,' as a shorthand descriptor for the longer, statutorily precise expression, “State Permit to Carry Pistols and Revolvers.”See, Higbie vs. Higbie, 2016 Conn. Super. LEXIS 810*; 2016 WL 2602653 (Superior Court, Conn., Decided April 16, 2016). This is a recent dissolution of marriage case. One of the issues was, “whether there should be any restrictions on the plaintiff's right to possess firearms while in the presence of the parties' child.” The Court said, ‘The defendant/mother (age 31) is a hospital emergency room nurse who has experience with firearms as well. When the parties lived together in Virginia, during the early years of their marriage, she was trained in firearms and obtained a concealed carry permit. She testified that she never carried a firearm on her person but she did participate in the activity of shooting with her husband and others.” For our purposes, further discussion of and disposition of the case is unimportant. What is important here is that the Superior Court itself used the phrase, “concealed carry permit,” in lieu of the Statutory phrase, ‘State Permit to Carry Pistols and Revolvers’ in reference to the Defendant’s Connecticut handgun permit. The operative word in the Court’s opinion is ‘concealed carry.’Similarly, in the case, Carabetta Mgmt. Co. vs. Borsari, 2014 Conn. Super. LEXIS 1597*; 2014 WL 3893163 (Superior Court, Connecticut, decided July 3, 2014), the Superior Court said that the Defendant, “Borsari has been a gun and target shooting enthusiast since the age of sixteen. He has taken firearms safety training courses, most recently five years ago, and possesses a concealed carry permit. On the date of the incident subject of Carabetta's complaint, January 21, 2014, he legally owned three handguns, one shotgun and an air pistol, all of which he had in his possession in his apartment.” Given these Connecticut Court opinions, we feel that the party who told us, “There is no such thing as concealment in Connecticut as far as the law is concerned,” has made a statement that is on weak legal ground on any reasonable interpretation of his comment.If a Court in Connecticut uses the phrase, ‘concealed carry permit,’ we are not far afield in having used the acronym 'CCW.' For the acronym, ‘CCW,’ and the phrase, ‘concealed carry permit’ mean essentially the same thing. The operative word in both is ‘concealed.’ So, if our use of ‘CCW’ to refer to the handgun permits issued by the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit of the Division of State Police is not technically precise, it is not clearly and irreverently wrong either given use of the phrase, ‘concealed carry permit,’ by at least one Connecticut Court in its opinions. If it is wrong to use the one expression, then it is just as wrong to use the other.Since Connecticut does allow for both open and concealed carrying of handguns—assuming one has a valid Connecticut permit to do so—the question is what shorthand phrase can one use or should one use if a shorthand phrase can justifiably be used at all to describe the State's    "Permit to Carry Pistols and Revolvers"? Since objection has been made to our use of the acronym, 'CCW,' in reference to Connecticut handgun permits, and, since that nomenclature is not precisely correct even if at least one Connecticut Court uses the expression, ‘concealed carry permit,’ we will henceforth refrain from further use of the expression, ‘CCW,’ when discussing the Connecticut handgun permit scheme and we will be circumspect hereafter when using that expression when discussing the licensing of handguns in other jurisdictions as well, unless the jurisdiction uses that acronym.We will use the expression “handgun carry permit” as a shortened phrase for the longer, statutorily correct phrase “State Permit to Carry Pistols and Revolvers.” Whatever fault exists in our use of the phrase ‘handgun carry permit,’ we trust we won’t,  for the sake of expediency, offend those who seek absolute precision.Again, we wish to emphasize that the Arbalest Quarrel strives for accuracy as well as completeness in its discussion of State and Federal firearms’ laws and procedures, and we understand our readers have come to expect that of us and have the right to demand that of us.By using the phrase, ‘handgun carry permit,’ here we are leaving open the manner of carry—whether concealed or in plain sight—and that is in fact in keeping with the present status of Connecticut law on the subject.We take the comments of our readers seriously. So, we have taken time to respond carefully and fully to the concern raised as to our use of the notation, ‘CCW,’ in respect to Connecticut’s State Permit to Carry Pistols and Revolvers.If anyone has further comment to make in respect to this matter, please feel free to contact us._______________________________Copyright © 2017 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

THE CONNECTICUT HANDGUN CARRY PERMIT: BASIC PROCEDURES

A ROAD TRIP WITH A HANDGUN: The Case For Universal State Concealed Handgun Carry Reciprocity

CONNECTICUT PISTOL PERMIT PROCEDURES FOR NON-RESIDENTS ARE DIFFERENT THAN FOR THOSE WHO RESIDE IN THE STATE: NON-RESIDENTS MUST SECURE A VALID CCW FROM ANOTHER JURISDICTION BEFORE AN APPLICATION FOR A CONNECTICUT PISTOL PERMIT WILL BE CONSIDERED

THE ADVENTURES OF ONE LAW-ABIDING AMERICAN CITIZEN AS HE TRAVERSES THE MINEFIELD OF FIREARMS’ LAWS, ATTEMPTING TO SECURE FOR HIMSELF MULTIPLE CONCEALED HANDGUN CARRY LICENSES FROM A MULTITUDE OF JURISDICTIONS THAT HE MAY EXERCISE HIS FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS UNDER THE SECOND AMENDMENT TO THE U.S. CONSTITUTION FOR THE PURPOSE OF SELF-DEFENSE

A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF THE PROCEDURES FOR OBTAINING A CONCEALED HANDGUN CARRY LICENSE IN VARIOUS STATES, FOR THE LAYMAN

PART FOUR: THE CONNECTICUT FIREARM APPLICATION PROCEDURE FOR ACQUIRING AN UNRESTRICTED CONCEALED HANDGUN CARRY LICENSE

THE CIRCUITOUS, TORTUOUS ROUTE TO OBTAINING MULTIPLE UNRESTRICTED CONCEALED HANDGUN CARRY LICENSES, AS EXPERIENCED BY OUR INTREPID CITIZEN, MR. WRIGHT.

SUBPART THREE

RECAP AND ASIDE

As we continue to work through a detailed examination of the licensing schemes of a few States, we do so following in the footsteps of Mr. Wright, an American citizen, a successful business owner, and fervent supporter of our “Bill of Rights”— all ten of them, including then, our sacred Second Amendment. Mr. Wright, travels regularly on business throughout the United States. The nature of Mr. Wright’s business requires him to carry valuables, consisting of products associated with his business and, as well, valuable negotiable instruments, and substantial amounts of cash. As he travels throughout the U.S. on business, Mr. Wright is an obvious target of assault. And, since Mr. Wright carries products and negotiable instruments of significant and substantial value, he is, as well, a tempting target.Mr. Wright had first sought to obtain an unrestricted concealed handgun carry license for Nassau County. The licensing of firearms is handled exclusively by the Nassau County Police Department. Mr. Wright is a resident of Nassau County, Long Island, New York. We discussed, in previous articles in the ROAD TRIP series, the onerous steps involved in attempting to secure handgun carry licenses in New York. In fact, various jurisdictions, County and City, within the State of New York, such as New York City, have instituted their own requirements for obtaining a concealed handgun carry license. That means, for example, the NYPD, that has exclusive authority for issuing all firearms’ licenses for the City, won’t recognize a handgun carry license validly issued from any New York jurisdiction other than its own. A New York resident who seeks, then, to exercise his or her fundamental right under the Second Amendment to carry a handgun concealed for self-defense anywhere in the State, but who doesn’t reside or work in any one of the five Boroughs of New York City, must obtain an additional CCW issued by the Licensing Division of the NYPD if he or she wishes to carry a concealed handgun, lawfully, in any one or more of those five Boroughs that comprise the City.Our intrepid citizen, Mr. Wright, holds valid handgun licenses issued by the appropriate licensing official of Maine, of Nassau County, Long Island, New York, of New York City, and licensing officials of other jurisdictions.State laws governing firearms ownership and possession are constantly changing. For the ROAD TRIP series, we will present you with the latest firearms’ licensing procedures as of the date of posting of the respective article.Each State, and the District of Columbia, has its own set of firearms’ laws including its own laws pertaining to the licensing of firearms to citizens. Those laws are often changing and they are often complicated, sometimes exceedingly so. That is the case, especially, in those jurisdictions that don’t desire American civilians to own and possess firearms—and there are more than a few of those.Since State firearms’ laws do change—sometimes quickly and often drastically, subject to the whims of Legislatures operating on the latest “gun news” story of the day—the Arbalest Quarrel will keep abreast of the changes of the law in the jurisdictions—local, State, and federal—that we discuss. As we go through the steps Mr. Wright went through to secure his handgun licenses, we will take some liberty. We will discuss the firearms’ laws and procedures as those procedures exist today, which may be different in small or large part from the time Mr. Wright applied for and received his handgun permits and licenses. We will also discuss, as they pertain to the often frustrating circumstances surrounding Mr. Wright’s experiences, what one might expect as he or she attempts to secure a concealed handgun carry license for one’s self. The actual tortuous hurdles are not exemplified in the droll and dry application papers themselves. Real world circumstances illustrate plainly and painfully, just what a person must go through simply to exercise his or her fundamental right to keep and bear arms for self-defense.As we have pointed out both here and in previous articles, Mr. Wright applied for and received his concealed handgun carry licenses many years ago, albeit he periodically must renew those licenses to keep them in force, and he does so. You might think that renewals of one’s licenses would be a relatively simple and straightforward process, compared to the lengthy process of securing a concealed handgun carry license for the first time. But, that is not always the case. Moreover, even where renewing a license is a relatively simple and painless process, it still involves the laying out of additional sums of money, and each jurisdiction has its own timetable for renewing a license. The timing of renewals is not consistent from one jurisdiction to the next and, if a handgun licensee should miss the renewal period, there is no grace period, and licensing officials do not excuse a mistake in missing a deadline. That means an individual must go through the entire process to secure a concealed handgun carry license again, as if for the first time. That means: do not miss a deadline for renewing your handgun license!We will provide you with accurate gun licensing information as of the date of the posting of the article as if Mr. Wright were applying for a concealed handgun carry license at this moment in time, noting differences in past and present laws to the extent we believe those differences critical in understanding the reason jurisdictions have made the changes in firearms’ laws that they do and to point to ambiguities and vagueness in gun laws as we see them.The steps involved in securing a concealed handgun carry license are time-consuming and expensive. Don’t think they aren’t. In some jurisdictions, the application procedure is extremely extensive and tedious, sometimes confoundingly complex or confusing, and any two processes are invariably duplicative. Jurisdictions will require the applicant to present fingerprint cards, signed and completed. Many questions as to one’s physical and mental health, and criminal record, if any, will be duplicative, if somewhat nuanced from one jurisdiction to the next. Photographs and proof of citizenship will likely be standard from one jurisdiction to the next.The ROAD TRIP series should demonstrate to you, if nothing else, the need for simple, straightforward, streamlining of the application process—keeping in mind that, after all, the law-abiding American citizen who seeks to obtain a handgun carry license for self-defense is undertaking a task that should not be inconsistent with the customs and values of our Nation. Yet, the procedures in place today, in many jurisdictions, are reminiscent of or suggestive of values and customs and traditions of other nations or groups of nations, such as those that comprise the EU. Understand: no other Country on Earth recognizes the singular right of the individual citizen to keep and bear arms as accruing in and existent in the individual. Yes, the cantons of Switzerland permit, perhaps—at one time—may even have required citizens to own firearms, including machine guns. That may no longer be the case as Switzerland, being pressured by the “elites” who had created the EU, have a strong distaste toward the average citizen owning firearms. Switzerland has acquiesced somewhat to the dictates of the EU even though it isn’t formally part of the EU.Israeli citizens, too, may apply for and readily obtain a permit to own and possess firearms, including machine guns. But the right of the Swiss citizen or the Israeli citizen to own and possess any firearm doesn’t accrue to the individual—that is to say, the right is not intrinsic to the individual, as a natural right, preeminent in and preexistent in the individual. It is a privilege bestowed on the citizen by the government—bestowed easily and routinely, but a privilege nonetheless.The United States is the only Nation on the face of the Earth that recognizes, in the Country’s Second Amendment, that the right of self-defense is basic, natural, primordial and that the right accrues to the individual. It is not something that is bestowed upon a person by government. That right is not to be denigrated or denied. No better means for defending one’s life and well-being against physical threat exists than that of a firearm in the hands of one properly trained in its use. Yet, why is it that the average law-abiding American citizen must jump through hoops simply to exercise that right?The right of self-defense is, after all, embedded in the Second Amendment. The federal Government does not bestow that right upon American citizens. It cannot bestow that right because the right preexists in each American citizen. Antigun groups either don’t realize this basic incontrovertible fact or otherwise choose to ignore it. They claim the right to keep and bear arms exists merely as a collective right in the context of militias, suggesting that the right has no meaning except in the context of the collective need of the State to protect itself against threats from outside the State—outside the Nation.We see this idea echoed constantly in innuendos, in suggestions, as exemplified in policies, that rights and liberties are tied not to Americans as individuals, but to American citizens as nameless components of society; to Americans as they exist as part of a huge collective; as part of a hive, as so many nameless cogs in a wheel. That, of course, is a false notion, one the founders had not and would not ever ascribe to. But, it is a myth presented to the public, as perpetrated by and engrained in the public through the mainstream media, at the behest of those ruthless forces that seek an end to the Republic and an end to this Country as an independent, sovereign Nation.

A WORD OF ADVICE FOR THOSE AMERICAN CITIZENS WHO WISH TO SECURE ONE OR MORE CONCEALED HANDGUN CARRY LICENSES

The first step an American citizen should take when seeking to acquire a concealed handgun carry license is to peruse the website of the gun licensing authority closely. Each of the jurisdictions we have examined, during our research, maintain a website through which one may find information pertaining to firearms’ laws applicable to the jurisdiction. The information provided is basic, but it is a good starting point. The websites we have looked at provide, as well, information pertaining to the licensing of firearms in the subject jurisdiction. The information we found to be presented in an honest and forthright manner in even if you must, in some instances, have to dig deep to uncover that information through several layers of menus and through more than a few web pages.The website will plainly lay out the governmental authority that has primary or exclusive authority for licensing of firearms in the jurisdiction. Often, but not invariably, this will be the duty of police authority in the jurisdiction. The applicant for a firearm’s license should familiarize himself or herself with the applicable licensing procedures. Sometimes, it will be relatively easy to do this as the menu items directed to firearms’ licensing are easy to locate and decipher. At other times that can be difficult. We find this to be true for those jurisdictions that have had a history of draconian gun laws and that are antithetical to the notion of an armed citizenry. Thus, you may need to drill down through several menu options to obtain the information you need.You should contact the issuing authority directly if you have any question or seek confirmation of how you are to proceed in acquiring a firearm’s license or permit. We have, in our work, found the licensing authorities to be helpful, knowledgeable, and attentive in responding to questions about firearm’s licensing, and have found these officials to be, as well, forthright about the prospects of obtaining a firearm’s license—especially about the prospect of securing a concealed handgun carry license in the particular jurisdiction for one’s self. Although Mr. Wright has applied for and obtained his concealed handgun carry licenses many years ago—subject, of course, to jurisdictional renewal requirements—keep in mind, once again, that we will provide you, the reader of this article, with current licensing standards and procedures for the jurisdiction we are covering.Bringing the procedures and standards up-to-date will serve two purposes. First, doing this will provide the reader with a useful vehicle for understanding the salient laws and procedures of the jurisdiction in question, as they exist presently. This will save the reader time and energy he or she would otherwise have to expend were that person to research the laws and procedures on their own.We have, in a previous article, when discussing changes in concealed handgun carry laws for the State of Maine, spent time looking at changes in Maine law. This, we felt, was necessary to explain apparent inconsistencies or ambiguities existent in the present law and to provide context for the changes. We will continue to do this in forthcoming “ROAD TRIP” articles where we feel explanatory information would be helpful to individuals who may wish to acquire a concealed handgun carry license in the jurisdiction we happen to be covering.Second, in our ROAD TRIP articles, we aptly demonstrate the difficulties attendant to acquiring a concealed handgun carry license in a State or City or County jurisdiction.What an individual must go through--indeed, suffer--merely to exercise his natural right of self-defense will not, then, and should not,  be lost on anyone. It is ironical, even shameful, that citizens of a free Republic should have to expend substantial time and exorbitant sums of money simply to exercise the natural right guaranteed to them, codified in the Bill of Rights. But, that is the case and has been the case for some time. Effective, national concealed handgun carry reciprocity legislation would do much to end the need to acquire more than one valid concealed handgun carry license. Thus, an individual will be spared the needless, senseless, duplicative, wasteful expenditure of time and money presently required to obtain and renew multiple licenses issued by multiple jurisdictions.Note: if one has any doubt as to how to proceed to acquire a concealed handgun carry license, one should contact a licensed attorney and/or respected professional security consultant and expert in firearms’ laws and procedures. This can save one time and, more importantly, preclude the possibility the applicant for a concealed handgun carry license fails to fill out an application completely, or fills an application out improperly or includes the wrong information on the application form, or includes more information than the information that is required and thereupon jeopardizes one’s chances for securing a license.As to the last point, this is not to say or suggest an applicant should lie on an application or be less than forthright. One should never lie or ever be less than forthright, especially when completing an application for a firearm’s license or permit. You will never fool the licensing official and if you attempt to do so, you will fail. If one isn’t honest, that is the surest way to be denied issuance of a concealed handgun carry license.Moreover, attempting to obtain a firearm license if you are not permitted to own and possess a firearm—for example, if you have been convicted of a felony or if you were in the military and you received a dishonorable discharge, or if you have renounced your citizenship, or if you have a history of serious mental disorder, psychosis, or if you have been convicted of domestic violence, to name a few bases for disqualification— you may open yourself up to civil or even criminal liability by applying for a handgun license and failing to include these matters if an application asks for information pertaining to these matters—and, make no mistake, an application for a concealed handgun permit or, for that matter, an application for issuance of any firearm will require to respond honestly to any of these. That said, one doesn’t have to include in his or her application and ought not voluntarily include anything more or other than the information the application specifically asks for. If, after completing and submitting the application for processing, the licensing officer contacts the applicant to request additional information, the applicant must comply. If again, the applicant has any question as to what information is sought or has concern about the information sought, the applicant should contact a licensed attorney in the jurisdiction in which he or she seeks the license or should contact a security consultant whose expertise rests in or includes application for possession of firearms.Let’s now begin on the matter of obtaining a concealed handgun carry license. Below, we discuss the procedures that Mr. Wright had to follow to obtain a license permitting him to lawfully carry a handgun concealed in the State of Connecticut.

PROCEDURES FOR OBTAINING A CONCEALED HANDGUN CARRY LICENSE IN CONNECTICUT

The basic Connecticut firearms’ licensing procedures are available for perusal on the State's website.We note that, in Connecticut, the Department responsible for licensing of firearms is the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) of the State Police.There are several menu options. The one we want and the one Mr. Wright wants is this one:Special Licensing and Firearms.There are distinct procedures depending on whether one is a resident of Connecticut or not. Mr. Wright does not reside in Connecticut. You cannot obtain an application on-line. Mr. Wright isn’t a resident of Connecticut. He is a resident of New York. A non-resident must obtain an application by contacting the State Police directly. However, important information exists on the website and a non-resident should peruse that information before contacting the Connecticut State Police for an application packet.On the website, Mr. Wright drills down to the application process for preliminary information for both residents and non-residents. He comes to this:FIREARMS AND PISTOL PERMITSHow do I get a permit to carry a gun in the State of Connecticut?Out of state residents may apply for a non-resident Connecticut State Pistol Permit. Non- residents apply directly to the Connecticut State Police.  Call 860-685-8494 to have an application mailed out.”For Residents of Connecticut, the preliminary procedure is different. Residents of Connecticut must first apply for a Temporary State Permit.The Procedure is as follows:“How do I apply for a Temporary State Permit?You must go to your local Police Department or First Selectman’s office to obtain an application. The application has all the instructions necessary to obtain the permit. The cost of the permit is $70.00, and it generally takes eight weeks to obtain.”After the Connecticut Resident obtains a Temporary State Permit, he or she can then apply for a permanent, “Connecticut State Permit.The information on the website sets forth: Once I have received a Temporary State Permit, how do I apply for a Connecticut State Permit?You can apply at the following locations to fill out the state application and have your photo taken. You must bring a copy of your Temporary State Permit, a check, money order for $70.00, made payable to Treasurer State of Ct. or cash,  proof you are legally and lawfully in the United States (i.e., Birth Certificate, U.S. Passport, Naturalization Certificate or Alien Registration Card issued by I.C.E.) and a current photo I.D., such as a driver’s license.  Applications are available at:

• Troop G in Bridgeport - Tuesday through Saturday

• Troop E in Montville - Tuesday through Saturday

• Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection in Middletown

Office Hours and Locations:How do I change my address on my State Pistol Permit?You can either call (860) 685-8290, or mail a letter to the Emergency Services and Public Protection, Division of State Police, Special Licensing and Firearms Unit, 1111 Country Club Road, Middletown, CT, 06457. Change of address is required within 48 hours, and the letter should include pistol permit number, name, and date of birth, old address, and new address.”Further information given is applicable to residents and non-resident holders of Connecticut State Pistol Permits alike:“May I keep my State Pistol Permit if I move out of state?Yes, providing you notify the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit of the change of address, and continue to renew your permit.How long is a State Permit to Carry Pistols and Revolvers good for? The permit is valid for 5 years from date of issue unless revoked or suspended.  Who may purchase a handgun?  Only those people who are Permit holders, Eligibility Certificate holders, or sworn Police Officers may purchase a handgun.Mr. Wright knows he regularly visits Connecticut on business and wonders if he could just stop into a local police department when he is in the State. He phones his attorney. His attorney takes a look at the website and phones the DESSP. Mr. Wright’s attorney determines that Mr. Wright must obtain an application through the mail. There is no way around this, and he requests an application for Mr. Wright. The DESSP official says he will send an application out forthwith to Mr. Wright’s attorney on behalf of Mr. Wright.Upon receipt of the application papers, Mr. Wright and his attorney look through the documents. In the first few sentences of the first page of a green sheet, titled, “Connecticut State Pistol Permits,” and subtitled, “Out of State Residents,” one thing becomes immediately apparent. A non-resident cannot apply for a Connecticut State Pistol Permit prior to securing a valid concealed handgun carry license from another jurisdiction.The non-resident must already have a valid CCW license issued from another jurisdiction before he can apply for a Connecticut State Pistol Permit. Thus, having a CCW in hand from another State is a condition precedent to obtaining a Connecticut Pistol Permit. Mr. Wright’s attorney learns that Connecticut does not require that the non-resident secure a CCW license from a particular jurisdiction or jurisdictions. The non-resident must simply have in his or her possession a valid CCW license, issued from any State. Mr. Wright has a valid unrestricted CCW issued to him by the NYPD, and a second valid CCW issued to him by the State of Maine. Either one of those two valid CCW licenses satisfies the condition precedent for further processing of Mr. Wright’s application.

CONNECTICUT CONCEALED HANDGUN LICENSING PROCEDURES

Mr. Wright’s attorney took a look at the applicable Connecticut pistol licensing Statute. Below is the Statute stated in full:Sec. 29-28. Permit for sale at retail of pistol or revolver. Permit to carry pistol or revolver. Confidentiality of name and address of permit holder. Permits for out-of-state residents. (b) Upon the application of any person having a bona fide permanent residence within the jurisdiction of any such authority, such chief of police, warden or selectman may issue a temporary state permit to such person to carry a pistol or revolver within the state, provided such authority shall find that such applicant intends to make no use of any pistol or revolver which such applicant may be permitted to carry under such permit other than a lawful use and that such person is a suitable person to receive such permit. No state or temporary state permit to carry a pistol or revolver shall be issued under this subsection if the applicant (1) has failed to successfully complete a course approved by the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection in the safety and use of pistols and revolvers including, but not limited to, a safety or training course in the use of pistols and revolvers available to the public offered by a law enforcement agency, a private or public educational institution or a firearms training school, utilizing instructors certified by the National Rifle Association or the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and a safety or training course in the use of pistols or revolvers conducted by an instructor certified by the state or the National Rifle Association, (2) has been convicted of (A) a felony, or (B) on or after October 1, 1994, a violation of subsection (c) of section 21a-279 or section 53a-58, 53a-61, 53a-61a, 53a-62, 53a-63, 53a-96, 53a-175, 53a-176, 53a-178 or 53a-181d, (3) has been convicted as delinquent for the commission of a serious juvenile offense, as defined in section 46b-120, (4) has been discharged from custody within the preceding twenty years after having been found not guilty of a crime by reason of mental disease or defect pursuant to section 53a-13, (5) (A) has been confined in a hospital for persons with psychiatric disabilities, as defined in section 17a-495, within the preceding sixty months by order of a probate court, or (B) has been voluntarily admitted on or after October 1, 2013, to a hospital for persons with psychiatric disabilities, as defined in section 17a-495, within the preceding six months for care and treatment of a psychiatric disability and not solely for being an alcohol-dependent person or a drug-dependent person as those terms are defined in section 17a-680, (6) is subject to a restraining or protective order issued by a court in a case involving the use, attempted use or threatened use of physical force against another person, (7) is subject to a firearms seizure order issued pursuant to subsection (d) of section 29-38c after notice and hearing, (8) is prohibited from shipping, transporting, possessing or receiving a firearm pursuant to 18 USC 922(g)(4), (9) is an alien illegally or unlawfully in the United States, or (10) is less than twenty-one years of age. Nothing in this section shall require any person who holds a valid permit to carry a pistol or revolver on October 1, 1994, to participate in any additional training in the safety and use of pistols and revolvers. No person may apply for a temporary state permit to carry a pistol or revolver more than once within any twelve-month period, and no temporary state permit to carry a pistol or revolver shall be issued to any person who has applied for such permit more than once within the preceding twelve months. Any person who applies for a temporary state permit to carry a pistol or revolver shall indicate in writing on the application, under penalty of false statement in such manner as the issuing authority prescribes, that such person has not applied for a temporary state permit to carry a pistol or revolver within the past twelve months. Upon issuance of a temporary state permit to carry a pistol or revolver to the applicant, the local authority shall forward the original application to the commissioner. Not later than sixty days after receiving a temporary state permit, an applicant shall appear at a location designated by the commissioner to receive the state permit. The commissioner may then issue, to any holder of any temporary state permit, a state permit to carry a pistol or revolver within the state. Upon issuance of the state permit, the commissioner shall make available to the permit holder a copy of the law regarding the permit holder’s responsibility to report the loss or theft of a firearm and the penalties associated with the failure to comply with such law. Upon issuance of the state permit, the commissioner shall forward a record of such permit to the local authority issuing the temporary state permit. The commissioner shall retain records of all applications, whether approved or denied. The copy of the state permit delivered to the permittee shall be laminated and shall contain a full-face photograph of such permittee. A person holding a state permit issued pursuant to this subsection shall notify the issuing authority within two business days of any change of such person’s address. The notification shall include the old address and the new address of such person.”There are several important items for consideration in the above Connecticut Statute. The Statute sets forth, one, the requirement that a person “successfully complete a course approved by the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection in the safety and use of pistols and revolvers including, but not limited to, a safety or training course in the use of pistols and revolvers available to the public offered by a law enforcement agency, a private or public educational institution or a firearms training school, utilizing instructors certified by the National Rifle Association or the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and a safety or training course in the use of pistols or revolvers conducted by an instructor certified by the state or the National Rifle Association”; and, two, the applicant must not fall within one or more of the categories that constitute automatic disqualification. You will waste your own time and money and that of the licensing official if you have either failed a firearm’s safety training course or if you fall into one or more categories of individuals who are prohibited from owning a gun.If, however, you have passed and have documentation to prove that you have successfully passed an appropriate firearm’s safety training course and you do not fall within one or more of the categories that disqualify one automatically from possessing any firearm, then you may proceed to the next step of the application process.In the next segment of this article, we will go into further detail of the application process as Mr. Wright seeks to secure a valid DESSP issued Pistol Permit that will enable him to carry a handgun, lawfully, in Connecticut.Before concluding this segment of the article on Connecticut CCW licensing, we address a few matters that individuals who are contemplating obtaining a Connecticut Permit to Carry Pistols and Revolvers might have in connection with the foregoing discussion:

FINAL NOTE PERTAINING TO CONNECTICUT PISTOL LICENSING STATUTE: TWO POINTS IMPORTANT TO NON-RESIDENTS THAT MAY BE RESPONSIVE TO QUESTIONS THE READER MIGHT HAVE, AS THEY ARE QUESTIONS THAT THE ARBALEST QUARREL HAD, AS WELL; AND ONE GENERAL POINT APPLICABLE TO RESIDENTS OF CONNECTICUT AND NON-RESIDENTS ALIKE.

Connecticut law, as we said, requires non-residents to have in hand a valid concealed handgun carry license as a condition precedent to obtaining a Connecticut CCW permit. Some readers of this article may wonder whether a Connecticut CCW is necessary at all to carry a handgun concealed in Connecticut if they hold a valid CCW from another jurisdiction. As of this writing, the answer is an unequivocal, “no.” Connecticut does not maintain reciprocity with any other jurisdiction. A CCW issued by another jurisdiction is required, as we have said, as a condition precedent, for obtaining a Connecticut CCW if and only if the person seeking a Connecticut CCW is a resident of another State. This means that a non-resident must invariably hold at least two CCW licenses in order to be able, lawfully, to carry a handgun concealed in Connecticut: a valid CCW issued by another State, as a condition precedent to obtaining a CCW issued by the appropriate firearms’ licensing authority in the State of Connecticut, the DESSP. Obviously, this condition does not apply to residents of Connecticut.Second, for both residents of Connecticut and non-residents alike, those who seek a valid Connecticut CCW permit, must successfully complete a course approved by the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection in the safety and use of pistols and revolvers. Now, some jurisdictions outside of Connecticut do issue CCW licenses without the requirement that a holder of a valid CCW license or permit first successfully complete. New York City, curiously enough, is one of these. It is exceedingly difficult for the average law-abiding person to obtain an unrestricted, “full carry,” concealed handgun license. But, the City doesn’t require and the NYPD itself does not provide a safety training course for holders of concealed handgun carry licenses. One may speculate as to the reason for this. One possible and plausible explanation for this is that the City officials do not wish for any civilian to possess firearms. It isn’t a secret that the previous Mayor or New York City, Michael Bloomberg, benefactor and sponsor of the antigun group, Everytown for Gun Safety, is virulently opposed to the average law-abiding citizen from owning and possessing firearms. The present Mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, is no less a zealous advocate for disarming Americans. The website, OntheIssues says this concerning de Blasio’s position of firearms’ possession and ownership. “Bill de Blasio has pushed for strong gun safety laws at the state level and for the promotion of industry-wide standards in gun safety, including micro-stamping. De Blasio also led the effort to divest public pension fund holdings in companies that manufacture the most dangerous weapons and launched the 'Wall Street for Change' campaign to support gun divestment of prominent hedge funds and money managers nationwide.” New York City officials apparently feel that by requiring holders of restricted and unrestricted concealed handgun licenses to successfully complete a firearms’ safety training course, whether provided by the NYPD or another organization, this would suggest that the City encourages the average citizen to own and possess firearms. This is convoluted thinking but it pervades the thinking of those New York City officials who are behind the draconian New York Safe Act. It is as if City officials are saying, “we don’t believe any American citizen should own and possess firearms. Those New York residents who seek to own and possess firearms must receive the appropriate licenses and permits to do so; and we will not make it either easy or cheap for those that wish to do so. Moreover, we will not provide access to firearms’ training courses or provide any information as to where a firearm’s licensee or permit holder may obtain that training, for to do so would mean that we believe in the right of the American people to keep and bear arms; and we do not wish to give anyone that impression; for we don’t.”Now the Arbalest Quarrel is not taking the position that a government body should require a person to take a firearms’ safety training course because we do not believe that the government should be in the business of bestowing on law-abiding American citizens what is their natural right anyway: the right to keep and bear arms. However, the Arbalest Quarrel does feel that, if a person does own and possess firearms, he ought to have the good sense of obtaining training in their proper use and function. A sane, rational person should have proper training in the use of any implement that, if used or handled improperly, can cause serious injury or death. But one’s responsibility for the handling of any instrument devolves on the individual. It should not be a mandate of the State. If a jurisdiction does require the law-abiding citizen to first obtain a handgun license before that person is lawfully permitted to carry a handgun concealed on his or her person within the jurisdiction, that governmental body should make available to the person the means whereby a person can obtain proper training or provide a person with a list of recommended organizations such as the NRA that have well over a century of experience on the proper handling of firearms. New York City doesn’t have anything to say about this. It is as if the City Government through the NYPD Licensing Division--the City Government's authorized body for issuing firearms' licenses and permits to individuals--simply wishes to wash its hands of the matter. That is bizarre to say the least.The City has draconian, arbitrary standards in place for issuing firearms' licenses and permits and puts the New York resident through an ordeal to obtain a firearm's license or permit, but then expresses a complete disinterest in providing firearms' training for the license or permit holder, or even suggesting venues through which the licensee or permit holder may obtain training once the license or permit is issued to him. Can you imagine the NYPD giving its officers a badge and a gun and leaving it up to the officer to find some means or other on their own to obtain training in the proper use of the firearm--caring not one whit whether the officer obtains proper training in the handling of the firearm or not, and offering no suggestion as to where an officer might obtain training? Yet, that is precisely the situation in which the City and the NYPD leave the civilian upon whom they deign, grudgingly, to issue a firearm's license or permit. It is almost as if the City is inviting a mishap with a gun; indeed almost as if it is expecting a mishap with a gun; perhaps even wanting one; and thereupon being in a position to say, "there, we told you so; you should never have had a gun in the first place. But you wanted a gun; and we gave you a license so you could buy one. And, now that you have 'messed up,' as we fully expected you would do, we are taking away your gun, we are taking away your gun license, and we charging you with a misdemeanor for misusing your gun. We hope you learned your lesson. We are never again going to issue you a firearm's license. So, don't bother applying for one. Guns belong in the hands of responsible individuals only, such as the police, and politicians, and judges, and movie stars, and other VIP; in other words, 'connected' individuals. The average, ordinary, law-abiding person such as yourself has no business with a gun. Guns are for 'elites,' in society--for important people, intelligent people; people with money; guns are not for the hoi polloi, such as you! If you need protection, you have your cell phone; call 911; or get yourself a whistle, and wait for help. It's on the way!"

CONSIDER THE ABOVE "CHASTISEMENT" BY THE NYPD FIREARMS' LICENSING OFFICER APROPROS OF THE FOLLOWING:

An old story goes that a semi-blind businessman, an industrious hard working man, who spent many years working to create a small but successful cash business but a man who has had no formal or informal training in the handling of firearms goes to the Licensing Division of the NYPD, applying for a CCW license. The NYPD Licensing Officer asks the businessman why he thinks he needs a handgun for self-defense. The businessman explains that his business is a cash business and that he handles substantial sums of cash as he conducts his business and he has been mugged on more than a few occasions and his money stolen on numerous occasions. The businessman explains, further, that he is tired of being mugged and threatened and losing money that he has worked hard earning and he needs a gun for self-defense when he walks several blocks to the bank, or takes the subway, or a bus, or a cab to deposit the cash at his bank. He is surrounded by many people—some of whom would love to get their hands on the substantial sums of money he has on his person and several thugs have done so in the past.Now, the NYPD has set an arbitrary standard for proof of the necessity for issuing a CCW license to a person. The NYPD Licensing Officer determines whether a person, in the normal conduct of his business, happens to transport substantial sums of cash to or from a bank. The NYPD considers, without explicitly saying, whether a business operates, in part at least, like a mini Brinks security service. If an applicant for a CCW license can make a good case for issuance of a CCW to the satisfaction of the NYPD Licensing Officer, this amounts to an applicant arguing that his business duties involve in part, at least, working like a Brinks security guard, transporting canvas bags full of money. Of course, what constitutes the carrying of substantial cash is determined by the NYPD and on a case-by-case basis. In this story, the NYPD determines the semi-blind businessman does carry substantial cash to or from a bank a few times a week. That the man has been mugged on numerous occasions, and seriously hurt, in part, at least, because the man's business happens to be located in a particularly dangerous part of the City, is not reason enough to issue the man a CCW license, according to the NYPD License Division standards. Indeed, that sad circumstance is beside the point. After all, a lot of law-abiding New York residents are mugged on a daily basis and these individuals do not have firearms to protect themselves. So being mugged is not a sufficient basis upon which the businessman may effectively distinguish himself from countless others who live in the City. But, the fact that the businessman has been mugged carrying sufficient amounts of cash on his person to and from a bank a few times a week--and what constitutes a sufficient amount of cash is up to the NYPD Licensing Officer to decide--is deemed by the Officer to be an important factor, a critical, even decisive, factor for determining whether to issue the man a CCW license that he seeks.The NYPD Licensing Officer then asks the businessman whether the man has any disability that might hinder his ability to use a handgun. The man, semi-blind, though he is, says, he has some vision problems but that he is able to see well enough to transact his business, handle large sums of cash, and to handle a handgun. The NYPD licensing official thereupon agrees to issue the businessman his CCW license.Now, whether the businessman has had any training in the use of a handgun and, if not, whether the businessman intends to get that training so that he would be able to use a handgun effectively if the need should arise, that is another question entirely, and it is not one that is a requirement for being issued a handgun license and securing a handgun. Curiously, this latter point is true. The ability to handle a firearm is not a factor in and is altogether irrelevant to the issuance of concealed handgun carry licenses by the Licensing Division of the NYPD. But, we are not yet done with this story.Another man, a New York resident, hale and hearty, has just moved to New York City, having served his Country as a U.S. Navy SEAL. Our U.S. Navy SEAL, recognizes how dangerous it is to live in the City and, like our semi-blind businessman, he also applies for a CCW license. The NYPD Licensing Officer asks the man why the man thinks he needs to carry a handgun. The U.S. Navy SEAL, now retired from the Navy and living in New York City, says he wishes to have a handgun for self-defense. The Licensing Officer asks the man whether he has a business and, if so, if the man transports substantial sums of cash to or from a bank, one or more times during the week. Our U.S. Navy SEAL says that he doesn’t have a business and does not transport substantial sums of cash to a bank. The Licensing Officer then asks the applicant, our U.S. Navy SEAL, retired from active duty, whether the applicant is presently the target of specific threats to the Navy SEAL’s life. The applicant, our retired U.S. Navy SEAL, replies, “none that he can think of.” The NYPD Licensing Officer then tells the applicant that he must deny the applicant a CCW because the applicant hasn’t demonstrated need, sufficient, to the satisfaction of the NYPD Licensing Officer, under the standards established by the NYPD, for issuance of a CCW to the applicant.The retired U.S. Navy SEAL doesn’t understand this. He points out that he knows full well how to use firearms—virtually any firearm and that he is an expert marksman, and that he operates coolly under threat to life, as his combat experience and training demanded. “Sorry,” replies the NYPD Licensing Officer. “You have failed to demonstrate to my satisfaction that you face, on a daily basis, more danger to your life and well-being than does any other average New York resident face, in the City. The fact that you know how to use a firearm effectively and would certainly be able to do so in a life threatening situation--and I have no reason to doubt that--is irrelevant. New York City doesn't recognize self-defense, in the absence of more to be sufficient reason to issue a restricted or unrestricted concealed handgun carry license. Again, I am sorry. But, City Government officials believe that too many guns in the hands of too many people--even the law-abiding--is considered dangerous to the well-being of the community even if law-abiding individuals are placed at risk for being denied access to a firearm when they truly need one and know how to use it."There is no moral to the story. But one may take note how logic may be turned on its head so that irrationality is perceived as presumptively rational. And, although, it appears to be far-fetched, the story, sadly, really isn’t. Of course, an NYPD Licensing Officer is hardly likely to issue a concealed handgun carry license—or any other kind of firearm’s license or permit—to an applicant who appears to have a difficulty seeing, but one’s ability to use a gun in a life-threatening situation is not a factor for consideration in the issuance of any firearm’s license or permit. Concerning issuance of CCW licenses, New York City, and any other City or County in the State, in accordance with State law, is a “may issue” State, like several other jurisdictions around the Country. A “may issue” State means a person requesting a CCW license, must convince to the appropriate licensing authority in the jurisdiction that he “needs” a gun and that “need” generally translates to meeting an arbitrary standard for the issuance of a CCW license to the person. If a person cannot meet the arbitrary standard the “may issue” jurisdiction has established, then the applicant is denied the CCW, unless the person is a VIP, such as a politician or a judge, or someone famous—a movie star for example. That means the life of one person is worth more than the life of another. If you are a VIP, you obtain what you want. If you are one of the hoi polloi who cannot otherwise satisfy the arbitrary standard, well, then, good luck.Whether a person is capable of using a firearm for self-defense is often, as we see in some jurisdictions, like New York, all but irrelevant. The need of a firearm for self-defense becomes nuanced, subject to the whim of the licensing official. This means that the right to keep and bear arms for self-defense is reduced inevitably to a privilege, a grant of Government and the import and imperative of the Second Amendment is simply ignored.Getting back to the requirements for obtaining a CCW license in Connecticut, that State, unlike New York, does require of its own residents and of non-residents, that they show proof of successfully completing a firearm’s training and safety course prior to issuance of a gun permit. So, if a holder, say, of a New York City concealed handgun license, wishes to secure, as well a Connecticut CCW, in order to carry a handgun lawfully in Connecticut, that person must show proof of having successfully completed a gun safety and training course. This means the holder of a New York City CCW license and those who hold a CCW from any other jurisdiction that does not require proof of completion of a firearms’ safety training course in the handling of firearms as a condition precedent to obtaining a CCW license, must obtain the necessary training. Having, then, successfully completed the firearms’ safety training course and receiving a certificate to that effect, the applicant, whether a resident of the State of Connecticut or not, who seeks a Connecticut CCW license, has, then, the necessary documentation to present to the DESSP Officer. Further processing of the application for the Connecticut CCW permit can then continue.Lastly, we have learned that a holder of a CCW from another jurisdiction who seeks to obtain a Connecticut CCW does not have to obtain a CCW in the jurisdiction he or she resides in.A resident of Hawaii, for example, who wishes to obtain a Connecticut CCW permit—a State permit to carry handguns or revolvers—need not demonstrate he or she has a CCW license from Hawaii. That’s a good thing. For although it is theoretically possible for the average law-abiding American citizen, who is a resident of Hawaii, to obtain a CCW license, for all practical purposes, that is impossible. Take a look at the Hawaii Police Department’s website.The website sets forth: “In exceptional cases when an adult applicant shows reason to fear injury or is engaged in the protection of life and property, the Hawaiʻi County police chief may grant a license to carry. For detailed information on who may be granted a license, see Section 134-9 of the Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes.” Living in Hawaii may be paradise. But, in that paradise, “here there be tygers.” One must forsake one’s self of any pretense of access to firearms for self-defense. The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and Article 1, Section 17 of Hawaii’s State Constitution, which mirrors the language of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution word for word, contain empty verbiage, devoid of effect.Copyright © 2017 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.            

Obtaining A CCW From Multiple Jurisdictions Is Time-Consuming, Expensive, and Slow

A ROAD TRIP WITH A HANDGUN: The Case For Universal State Concealed Handgun Carry Reciprocity

PART FOUR: THE CONNECTICUT FIREARM APPLICATION PROCEDURE FOR ACQUIRING AN UNRESTRICTED CONCEALED HANDGUN CARRY LICENSE

THE CIRCUITOUS, TORTUOUS ROUTE TO OBTAINING MULTIPLE UNRESTRICTED CONCEALED HANDGUN LICENSES AS EXPERIENCED BY OUR INTREPID CITIZEN, MR. WRIGHT.

SUBPART TWO

OVERVIEW OF NATIONAL CONCEALED HANDGUN CARRY RECIPROCITY IN THE CONTEXT OF COUNFOUNDINGLY DIFFICULT AND WASTEFUL TIME AND MONEY ONE MUST SPEND ACQUIRING MULTIPLE CONCEALED CARRY HANDGUN LICENSES FROM MULTIPLE STATE AND LOCAL JURISDICTIONS AS ONE SEEKS NOTHING MORE THAN TO EXERCISE ONE'S NATURAL AND GUARANTEED RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS FOR SELF-DEFENSE, AS THE FOUNDERS OF OUR REPUBLIC INTENDED BOTH FOR THEM AND FOR US.

INTRODUCTION

In this section of our “ROAD TRIP” series of articles we lay out the necessity of National concealed handgun carry reciprocity legislation. National concealed handgun carry reciprocity legislation would dramatically reduce the time, energy, and cost factors involved in obtaining handgun licenses from multiple jurisdictions. We follow the experience of one American citizen as he deals with the complexity of applying for and acquiring multiple handgun licenses.For over two decades Mr. Wright has spent substantial time and exorbitant suns of money securing concealed handgun carry licenses from multiple jurisdictions. Most of the requirements are duplicative. He continues to spend time and money, renewing those licenses as required in each jurisdiction. The Arbalest Quarrel has laid out in detail the intricacies and difficulties in obtaining CCW handgun licenses. We have discussed Mr. Wright’s acquisition of handgun licenses in New York and in Maine.

LICENSING OF FIREARMS AND STATE PREEMPTION

Unlike many, if not most States, the New York State Legislature hasn’t preempted the field of firearms laws. That means cities and counties within New York may enact their own firearms’ codes and ordinances, consistent with State Statute—so long as the city and county codes and ordinances are not less stringent than State law. They aren’t. New York City’s codes, regulating the ownership, possession, and licensing of firearms, including handguns, shotguns, rifles and even black powder muskets and non-functioning replicas, are numerous, complex, and onerous.Mr. Wright is a resident of Nassau County, Long Island, New York. We wrote about Mr. Wright’s acquisition of a Nassau County handgun license. That license isn’t valid in New York City. Mr. Wright’s main business offices are in New York City. Under the firearms’ codes of New York City, Mr. Wright had to acquire a separate New York City handgun license to carry a handgun concealed, lawfully, in any of the Boroughs within the City because, unlike most jurisdictions, the New York State Legislature has not preempted the field of firearms’ licensing. This means that lower level government jurisdictions, Counties and Cities, within the State of New York, can institute their own codes and regulations, so long as those codes and regulations are no less stringent than and are consistent with State Statute. That results in codes and regulations much more complex and clearly more stringent than anything coming out of Albany.In a previous article we discussed the procedure for obtaining an unrestricted, “full carry” concealed handgun license in New York City. The procedure is costly, in both time and money. Mr. Wright had no alternative but to obtain an unrestricted New York City handgun license if he were to protect his life and safety conducting business in the City. He could not rely on the Nassau County gun permit. New York City does not have firearms' "reciprocity" with other Cities and Counties in the same State--a strange situation, but not unique. Other States, such as Hawaii, operate similarly. The result is a hodgepodge of firearms' codes and regulations across the State of New York.Mr. Wright also conducts business in Maine, and we discussed the procedure for obtaining a concealed handgun carry license, that would allow Mr. Wright, a law-abiding American citizen and inordinately busy entrepreneur, to carry, concealed, on his person, a handgun, in the State of Maine.

THE IMPACT OF THE HELLER CASE ON THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS

For over two decades Mr. Wright has spent substantial time and money securing handgun licenses. He should not have had to do so. The natural right of self-defense follows logically from the natural right of the people to keep and bear arms as codified in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. This isn’t supposition. It is fact. If there remain any doubt, about that, the U.S. Supreme Court, in District of Columbia vs. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 128 S. Ct. 2783 (2008), laid such doubt to rest. Indeed, self-defense was a salient issue of Heller. The overview of the case sums up the holdings as follows: “The Court held that the District’s ban on handgun possession in the home and its prohibition against rendering any lawful firearm in the home operable for the purposes of immediate self-defense violated the Second Amendment. The Court held that the Second Amendment protected an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia and to use that firearm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home. The Court determined that the Second Amendment’s prefatory clause announced a purpose but did not limit or expand the scope of the operative clause. The operative clause’s text and history demonstrated that it connoted an individual right to keep and bear arms, and the Court's reading of the operative clause was consistent with the announced purpose of the prefatory clause. None of the Court's precedents foreclosed its conclusions.”The majority in Heller stopped short of extending its holding to the carrying of a handgun for self-defense outside the home. But, the high Court generally tailors its decisions narrowly to the specific legal issues of the case. The central issue in Heller was whether the District of Columbia can lawfully ban outright a person’s use of a handgun for self-defense within one’s home. The District of Columbia attempted to do so, thereby reducing the effectiveness of a handgun for self-defense to that of a heavy paperweight, or hammer.The high Court made clear that the District of Columbia’s constraint on one’s ability to use a handgun for self-defense within one’s home is unconstitutional as it conflicts with the import of the Second Amendment. Since Heller, every State, including the District of Columbia must acknowledge, at least tacitly, and often enough, grudgingly, the right of a person to rely on a handgun for self-defense in one’s home. That right flows, logically, from the high Court’s determination in Heller, as the Court made clear and unequivocal, that the right of the people to keep and bear arms is an individual right, unconnected to an individual’s membership, if any, in a State militia.The laws of each State and the District of Columbia ostensibly make provision for the carrying of a handgun concealed for self-defense. Yet, in practice several States, including the District of Columbia, issue such licenses, rarely, if at all, and, if they do so, such licenses are issued only to a privileged, well-connected, few which raises, then, Fourteenth Amendment due process and equal protection concerns as America is a class-less society. No American citizen’s rights are function of one’s personal wealth, or power, or connection to those who have extraordinary wealth or who wield extraordinary power. One’s rights and liberties as an American citizen are not expanded or reduced predicated on his net worth, or market value, or position, or status. At least that is not supposed to be the case, but that happens to be true where a law-abiding citizen seeks to exercise one particular natural and fundamental right: namely the right to keep and bear arms.Moreover, not all jurisdictions that do issue concealed handgun carry licenses maintain a reciprocal relationship with another State. Reciprocity agreements among States is often muddled and fluid—subject to change, often without adequate notice.

WOULD NATIONAL CONCEALED HANDGUN CARRY LEGISLATION ENACTED BY CONGRESS REALLY BE EFFECTIVE IN ENABLING LAW-ABIDING AMERICAN CITZENS TO CARRY A HANDGUN CONCEALED ON THEIR PERSON, FOR SELF-DEFENSE?

To be sure, Congressional enactment of well-crafted national concealed handgun reciprocity legislation would do much to obviate confusion in the lawful carrying of concealed handguns in the several States as each State that provides for concealed handgun carry licensing would be required to recognize the validity of a concealed handgun carry license issued by another State. But that means States—those referred to as “may issue”—that, at present, turn a guaranteed right into a jurisdictional grant or privilege, issuing concealed handgun carry licenses rarely if at all—may not be required to recognize the validity of licenses issued by States that routinely issue such licenses to average, law-abiding citizens—those referred to as the “shall issue” States.There are several permutations of possible national concealed handgun carry reciprocity legislation formulae that Congress can consider when drafting national concealed carry bills. The Arbalest Quarrel will provide a detailed analysis of the pending bills in a forthcoming article. But, we will say this now: the most effective national concealed handgun carry reciprocity legislation would require all States, including the District of Columbia and all U.S. territories, to recognize and accept, within their respective jurisdictions, and recognize and accept, unconditionally, the validity of every valid State issued concealed carry license whether one is a resident of the State that issued the license or not. That means that no American citizen , carrying a handgun concealed on his person, while also holding a valid concealed handgun carry license, validly issued by the appropriate licensing authority, shall not be subject to arrest.Suppose, then, a resident of Hawaii—where issuance of concealed handgun carry licenses is extremely rare and virtually impossible to secure unless one is well-connected—obtains a concealed handgun carry license from, say, Texas. Can the resident of Hawaii, then, rely on the validity of the Texas CCW license to lawfully carry a handgun concealed in Hawaii? Well, that depends on how the Congressional national concealed carry legislation is worded. If the legislation sets forth that every State must recognize and honor a valid State issued CCW license in every other State, regardless of a given State’s own firearms’ licensing laws, then the Hawaii resident, holding a valid CCW license issued, say, from Texas, is in safe waters and may utilize the Texas CCW license to carry a handgun concealed in every State, including, then, his home State of Hawaii. The Hawaii resident would be able, then, effectively, to override his home State’s draconian gun laws. But that would make, nugatory, Hawaii’s highly restrictive, draconian gun laws. What would Hawaii do? Hawaii wouldn’t sit idle seeing its “may issue” gun laws neutralized as its own residents, as well as non-residents, can then carry a handgun concealed on their person throughout the islands of Hawaii and the Hawaiian Government could not do a thing about it.Hawaii would undoubtedly file lawsuits, objecting to the constitutionality of such Congressional legislation. Antigun organizations and the Attorneys General of States such as New York, New Jersey, and Illinois would probably file their own amicus briefs in support of Hawaii’s lawsuits. Hawaii would argue, inter alia, that such Congressional legislation is a bald attempt to override Hawaii’s right under the Tenth Amendment to enact its own firearms’ laws, and that such national concealed handgun carry legislation enacted by Congress operates as an unconstitutional, impermissible infringement on Hawaii’s State as Congressional legislation enjoins States from exercising their own police powers. The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."  Hawaii would also likely argue that such national concealed handgun carry legislation operates as an unconstitutional, unconscionable encroachment on State sovereignty as Congress preempts a traditional power of the States—regulation of firearms within a State’s own borders. So-called “may issue” States would argue that such impermissible encroachment means that, as residents of “shall issue” States enter their States carrying valid CCW licenses, with handguns in tow, Hawaii’s police could not arrest them. They would be immune from arrest and from prosecution. Residents of “may issue” States, on their part, who seek to carry a handgun concealed would be unhappy as well if Hawaii’s draconian gun laws prevent them from exercising the very right that non-residents may exercise in their own State—especially if residents of Hawaii would not recognize their own resident’s obtaining valid handgun licenses from another State. This would present a conundrum for Congress and for the Courts.Antigun proponent residents of those States that do not wish to see—what they perceive, albeit wrongly, to be—an extension of the Second Amendment right of the people to keep and bear arms would raise a hailstorm of objections to guns coming into their State from other States, while those residents who seek to secure CCW licenses for themselves would argue that it makes no sense to deny to them the right to keep and bear arms that is extended to non-residents simply by virtue of less restrictive gun laws existent in non-resident States, especially if any handgun license they obtain from another State is considered invalid in Hawaii if one happens to be a resident of Hawaii.While antigun groups file lawsuits to curtail the effectiveness of Congressional national concealed handgun carry legislation, there would be, on the other side, plans afoot by residents of “may-issue” States to compel State Legislatures to repeal draconian firearms’ laws and to enact new less restrictive laws that cohere with the firearms’ laws of “shall issue” States and with the Congressional legislation.Anticipating problems, Republicans in Congress may seek to enact a weaker yet still improbable version of national concealed handgun carry reciprocity legislation. A weaker version of the national concealed handgun carry reciprocity legislation would require every State, including the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories, to recognize the validity of and therefore honor a validly issued CCW license of the issuing jurisdiction from a citizen’s own State of residence if and only if one’s resident State issues CCW licenses to its residents. But, for “may issue” States, the fact that they issue CCW licenses, theoretically, at least, means that they may be required to recognize and honor the CCW license of any non-resident who comes into their State, “packing” a gun anyway. In that event, we would undoubtedly see present “may issue” States modifying their gun laws, yet further, making their gun laws even more stringent—altogether proscribing the issuance of CCW licenses in their States. Those “may-issue” concealed handgun carry States, such as Hawaii and New York, and Illinois, would not, then, be required to recognize and honor a CCW license issued by another State since they do not, any longer issue CCW licenses. Thus, anyone entering the State with a firearm and a valid CCW license issued by another State would not be in safe harbor. That person would be subject to immediate arrest and prosecution for carrying a gun into the State at all. So, a weakened national concealed handgun carry reciprocity law would really not be a national concealed handgun carry reciprocity law at all, but merely a qualified national concealed handgun carry reciprocity law.Nonetheless, even weakened versions of Congressional national concealed handgun carry legislation would likely see major battles in Congress. Those battles would then pour over into the Courts.Looking forward—let’s say the next ten years—assuming national concealed handgun carry reciprocity legislation of some sort or another is passed in the next few months, we would see—indeed would probably have to see—the Heller holding extended to the public domain—namely the domain outside one’s home. That may be the only way to finally snuff out the antigun movement’s efforts to curtail firearm’s ownership and possession once and for all.

HOW MIGHT PROPONENTS OF THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS COMBAT THE EFFORTS OF ANTIGUN GROUPS AND “MAY ISSUE” STATES THAT SEEK TO CURTAIL EXPANSION OF THE HELLER DECISION?

One tenable response to Hawaii’s objection is that the Second Amendment right of the people to keep and bear arms, made applicable to the States under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, overrides a possible Tenth Amendment or police powers objection a State, might make, if, as a proponent of national concealed handgun carry reciprocity legislation, argues, as well, that the right of self-defense, a hallmark of the individual right to keep and bear arms, cannot be legitimately circumscribed by States. A framing of constitutional issues may look in part like this:The natural right of self-defense falls, one, within the right guaranteed under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; and that right, is protected, two, under the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; and the right of self-defense is protected, three, under the full faith and credit clause of Article IV, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution; and perhaps a novel argument may set forth that the right of self-defense, embodied in and entailed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is complemented, four, in the Ninth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as one of the unenumerated rights and liberties underlying the Ninth Amendment. An argument of a Ninth Amendment right of self-defense would likely butt up against the argument that such right is inconsistent with the sovereignty of States under the Tenth Amendment and under the police powers of States to regulate firearms’ laws within their own borders, assuming one can draft a tenable Ninth Amendment argument of self-defense at all—apart from the application of the Second Amendment right to the matter of self-defense as now recognized as a result of the Heller decision, made applicable to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment as set forth in the U.S. Supreme Court's McDonald decision, that came on the heels of Heller. See, McDonald vs. City of Chicago, 557 U.S. 965, 130 S. Ct. 48 (2009).  The Ninth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says, "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." Had Hillary Clinton succeeded to the U.S. Presidency, any thought of national concealed handgun carry reciprocity legislation would be no more than a pipedream. With the Trump Administration, soon to be ensconced in the White House, passage of national concealed handgun carry reciprocity legislation, in some form, will pass, notwithstanding efforts of virulent Antigun Legislators, like Senator Charles Schumer, who made very clear that he would oppose it. But, Americans will see enactment of such legislation even if it takes several months to do so, followed by years of Court battles.Thus, for now, those States that do not at the moment have concealed handgun carry reciprocity agreements with other jurisdictions, and that have no desire to enter into such concealed handgun carry reciprocity agreements with other States, place out-of-State residents in a bind. One must either forego the carrying of a handgun concealed in those jurisdictions that do not have a concealed handgun carry reciprocity agreement with another jurisdiction or one must—like Mr. Wright, who seeks to carry a weapon for self-defense in multiple jurisdictions that he travels to and through for business related purposes—apply for and obtain separate concealed handgun carry licenses, issued by multiple issuing authorities. That at present is the nature of the Country we live in. That is the case for Mr. Wright whose trials and tribulations we follow as he works his way through the obstacles of obtaining a concealed handgun carry license in various New England and mid-Atlantic States where he conducts business.Thus, the problems Mr. Wright faces simply to exercise his right of self-defense is hampered and constrained—making, for him, and for those of us who seek merely to exercise the natural right guaranteed to us, as codified in the Second Amendment—an elusive goal. Thus the antigun groups and antigun Congress and antigun State Legislatures and mainstream media, and the secretive, wealthy, powerful, ruthless, individuals and groups behind them all continue to make a mockery of the American citizen and continue to make a mockery of the American citizen’s Bill of Rights.Copyright © 2017 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.

WHY MUST AMERICANS HAVE TO JUSTIFY THEIR RIGHT TO OWN AND POSSESS FIREARMS?

A ROAD TRIP WITH A HANDGUN: THE CASE FOR UNIVERSAL STATE CONCEALED HANDGUN CARRY RECIPROCITY

PART FOUR: THE CONNECTICUT FIREARM APPLICATION PROCEDURE FOR ACQUIRING AN UNRESTRICTED CONCEALED HANDGUN CARRY LICENSE

THE CIRCUITOUS, TORTUOUS ROUTE TO OBTAINING MULTIPLE UNRESTRICTED CONCEALED HANDGUN LICENSES AS EXPERIENCED BY OUR INTREPID CITIZEN, MR. WRIGHT.

SUBPART ONE: RECAP

One year ago, the Arbalest Quarrel commenced a detailed examination of the perils, snares and frustrations the law-abiding American citizen encounters and faces for seeking no more than to exercise his or her natural right of self-defense. We followed an individual as he undertakes the time intensive, expensive, and exasperating task of acquiring concealed carry handgun licenses from multiple jurisdictions.The individual whom we followed in the exercise isn’t fictional. He is an actual person. We use a pseudonym for this person to protect his identity. We refer to this individual as Mr. Wright. Mr. Wright is an American citizen and successful businessman. He currently holds several handgun licenses. All but one are concealed handgun carry (CONCEALED CARRY WEAPON) (“CCW”) licenses.Mr. Wright conducts business in several States. The nature of Mr. Wright’s business involves the transporting of assets of considerable monetary value. Doing so, makes him a tempting target for armed robbers, jeopardizing his personal safety and well-being. A handgun provides Mr. Wright with the most effective means available for personal protection.

MANY JURISDICTIONS REQUIRE THE LAW-ABIDING AMERICAN CITIZEN TO JUSTIFY HIS NEED FOR A CCW.

Why should the law-abiding citizen have to justify the need for a CCW. After all, is not the right of self-defense basic, immutable, indisputable, and intrinsic? Did not the founders of the Republic recognize the primacy of the right of self-defense and, so, codify that quintessential right in the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution? If so, why must the law-abiding American citizen have to justify the carrying of handgun for self-defense? Yet, a few jurisdictions, notably New York City—the City where Mr. Wright has his main business offices—require the prospective holder of an unrestricted concealed handgun carry license to do just that. An individual must convince, to the satisfaction of the NYPD licensing officer, why he or she feels the need to carry a handgun for personal protection.Establishing a rationale upon which to test the suitability for issuance of a concealed handgun license may, to some, may seem perfectly reasonable. It isn’t. The standards established may seem pragmatic and coherent. They aren’t. On close inspection, they are completely arbitrary and superficial. In existence in New York and in several other jurisdictions around the Country for many years—even decades in some instances—we may think the laws practical, necessary, “common-sense” application of the police powers of the State? But, are they? To grow accustomed to this or that law and practice and belief does not make such law reasonable, rational, or—if that law conflicts with our jurisprudence and with our Constitution —lawful. Thus we have "unlawful laws." That isn’t an oxymoron. An abundance of unlawful laws exists—and many of them are directed to firearms’ regulation, unlawfully restricting one's right to own, possess, and use firearms.

WHY MUST A LAW-ABIDING AMERICAN CITIZEN HAVE TO CONVINCE A GOVERNMENT LICENSING OFFICIAL THAT HE OR SHE REQUIRES A FIREARM FOR SELF-DEFENSE? WHY MUST A LAW-ABIDING AMERICAN CITIZEN HAVE TO JUSTIFY HIS OR HER RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS FOR SELF-DEFENSE IF SELF-DEFENSE IS A QUINTESSENTIAL, NATURAL, PRIMARY AND PRIMORDIAL RIGHT AND IF A HANDGUN IN THE HANDS OF THE LAW-ABIDING AMERICAN CITIZEN, TRAINED IN THE USE OF THAT HANDGUN, HAS, THROUGH THE POSSESSION OF THAT HANDGUN, THE BEST MEANS AVAILABLE TO SECURE HIS OR HER LIFE AND WELL-BEING AGAINST THOSE WHO WOULD THREATEN THAT LIFE AND WELL-BEING?

A business person who does most of his business in cash and who carries thousands of dollars on his person on his way to a bank, a few times a week, is a tempting target indeed to a robber looking to make a killing through little effort. But a drug addled lunatic may be perfectly willing to kill another person for a few bucks and think nothing of it. If, then, a rational law-abiding person must justify to the satisfaction of a licensing official why issuance of a concealed handgun carry license is warranted for him but not for myriad others—which a prospective holder of a CCW must do in New York City if he is to have any real chance of securing a license to lawfully carry a handgun concealed on his person on the streets of New York City—the ludicrousness of the exercise becomes, on even a cursory inspection, painfully apparent.It really comes down to the fact that one person asks, begs really, for the privilege of defending his or her life and makes the case, why he or she faces more danger to life than someone else and therefore ought to be allowed to carry a handgun for self-defense? What must a person do to prove he or she needs a firearm for self-defense in the City of New York, but that others do not? How might one prove that certain  factors in his or her life satisfactorily distinguish his or her life from that of others, justifying the issuance of a CCW? In so doing, the right of self-defense—quintessential and primary, and primordial—reduces to mere privilege, an exercise one must excel in to justify one's right to exist. The right to be free from threats to life becomes a luxury, bestowed on a few through Government largess. The Government becomes a gatekeeper, deciding the value of human life--by extending to one individual the coveted unrestricted, concealed carry license, and withholding it from others.Of course, some might disagree with this assessment, arguing, on behalf of the antigun crowd, that the right of self-defense is not at issue. They would argue either that a handgun does not make a person safer or that, if it does, the danger to society outweighs the value a gun provides to individuals within society. Let’s parse that.Certainly, a person trained in the proper operation of a handgun has the most effective means currently available to protect his or her life and well-being against imminent threats to that life. We need not debate that. The statement is self-evident, axiomatic, true. But, do guns in society make for an unsafe society? The antigun crowd answers that question with an unequivocal, "yes." Yet, the antigun crowd begins with their conclusion, "guns in society make a society less safe," and then attempt to gather statistics to support the conclusion they assume to be true before the fact. Their conclusion is really not a conclusion derived from true premises, then, but an assumption. They take that assumption, and attempt to find data to support it, excluding data that refutes it. By emphasizing the gun, as an implement of harm, they minimize the import of the agent, the causal factor, truly responsible for harm. They also ignore that the agent may use other objects to harm innocent life: knives, axes, bombs and, as we have seen of late, both in Europe and in this Country, trucks. So, the availability or unavailability of guns is beside the point.The problem of violence in society is a function of the agent of violence in society, not the implement. Implements are not agents. Implements are not sentient beings. But antigun proponents place little, if any, emphasis on the agent. The value of life to the antigun proponent is a function of utility. Antigun proponents consider life and well-being from the standpoint of maximizing utility. For them, the truth of that statement is a given. They reason that getting guns out of the hands of more people—namely law-abiding citizens—will, ipso facto, reduce the number of deaths in society. That assertion is conjecture, not fact and it is false.Antigun proponents know criminals and lunatics and terrorists will harm individuals with guns, knives—and, as we have seen played out recently—trucks—truly anything at hand; and they will use whatever it is that is available to maximum effect, devising ever more devious ways to maximize the harm they are capable of doing to innocent life. So, as antigun proponents attempt to maximize utility for society by zeroing in on guns, alone, the violent among us are devising ways to maximize harm to individuals within society--through anything that is available. Ultimately, it is individuals within society that are harmed. They are harmed by two agents: the violent among us--predominately, criminals, and lunatics, and Islamic terrorists--and by antigun groups that would deny to law-abiding individuals the best means available to the law-abiding citizen in which to protect innocent human life, the firearm.Ultimately, antigun proponents do not really care if an innocent life is lost so long as society in general—the collective, the hive—is secure. That idea is blunt, but true, for it follows logically from and is implicit in the philosophy of antigun proponents even if they expressly deny it. That idea plays out in myriad restrictive, ludicrous gun laws existent in federal and State Statutes and existent in County and City ordinances and codes and regulations. But, that idea of antigun proponents--that ethical position, utilitarianism, specifically, consequentialism--a moral theory that looks to the consequences of an agent's actions and not on the intentions of the agent, a theory that seeks to maximize utility for society as a whole, placing greater value on the well-being of society, the collective, the hive, than on the well-being of the individual in society--is inconsistent with the ethical position of the founders of our Republic who saw the sanctity of the individual as preeminent.The founders remarked in their writings, and, as we see, they embodied in the Bill of Rights and in the Articles of our Constitution the idea of the transcendent supremacy of each American, as an individual.The founders realized that Government must have limited powers and that, ultimately, it is for the individual to take responsibility for his or her own life, and responsibility for his or her own well-being, and responsibility for his or her own happiness.Restricting the individual's access to firearms--thereby prohibiting the individual from possessing the best means available to reducing threat to life and well-being--operates no less than a refutation of the sanctity of the individual. The founders of the Republic would not be pleased.In our next article, we take a close look at the procedures for obtaining a CCW in Connecticut. We follow Mr. Wright as he familiarizes himself with the procedures for obtaining a Connecticut CCW and completes his application for a Connecticut concealed handgun carry license.Copyright © 2017 Roger J Katz (Towne Criour), Stephen L. D’Andrilli (Publius) All Rights Reserved.