Pro-2A group sues Connecticut over UNCONSTITUTIONAL state law banning open carry

06/20/2023 / By Belle Carter

A pro-Second Amendment nonprofit organization based out of Idaho has sued Connecticut to block the passage of a law banning the open carrying of firearms, which the state’s Democratic governor has already signed.

In 2013, Connecticut passed an anti-gun measure in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Dec. 14, 2012, a terrible tragedy that killed 20 children and six teachers. Several weeks ago, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, signed the state’s most sweeping anti-gun legislation since the shooting.

The bill not only banned open carry firearms in the state, but also increased bail and toughened probation and parole conditions for what state officials called a “narrow group of people” with multiple gun-related severe offenses. The bill also prohibited the sale of more than three handguns to any person within 30 days, which some exceptions provided for instructors and other persons in relevant professions.

Other provisions include expanding Connecticut’s current assault weapons ban to include more than 100 other weapons, stiffening penalties for the possession of large-capacity magazines, expanding so-called safe-storage rules to make them more strict and adding certain domestic violence crimes to the list of convictions that disqualify state residents from owning firearms.

The bill also expands a ban on the retail sale of certain semi-automatic firearms to anyone under 21 years old and increases the penalties against gun dealers for violating state laws.

The bill passed the state Senate and House of Representatives by a vote of 24 to 11 and 96 to 51, respectively, with state legislators voting largely along partisan lines.

Anti-open carry legislation does not keep people safe

We The People USA (WTPUSA), an Idaho-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of Second Amendment rights in the country, filed a lawsuit against the 2013 law in federal court along with other plaintiffs to block the law’s continued enforcement.

In the lawsuit, the organization pointed out that the law violates Second Amendment gun rights, particularly the ban on open carry and the limit in purchasing guns. (Related: Gov. Newsom of California wants to SCRAP the Second Amendment by pushing new 28th Amendment.)

“Individuals have a right to bear arms under both the state and federal constitutions,” WTPUSA lawyer Norm Pattis wrote in an email to the Associated Press. “The state constitution guarantees a right to protect oneself. No one sacrifices that right by walking out of their front door. In an era of defunding police, permissive bail reform and liberal clemency, folks depend on the right to self-defense more than ever.”

In an interview with Teryn Gregson of “Faithful Freedom,” WTPUSA Co-Founder and President Dawn Jolly emphasized why it is important to have a fully encompassed Second Amendment and not allow restrictions on open carry or ghost guns. Jolly educated herself on matters taking Americans’ freedom away and was immersed in the Constitution.

“Our right to defend ourselves is God-given because our rights are inalienable. What the law does is put in the explicit directive basically that our government cannot take away our rights from us,” she stressed, noting that freedom of speech and the right to bear arms are the first and second amendments. “They are first and second for a reason.”

She added: “The Constitution isn’t just some document. Our founding fathers were geniuses to even think through what might be coming down the pike so many years later. But that’s precisely what they’re aiming to do.”

Check out SecondAmendment.news for more stories related to the constitutional right to bear arms of Americans.

Watch the full episode of “Faithful Freedom” with Teryn Gregson featuring Dawn Jolly discussing why anti-open carry legislation is not lawful and does not make people safe.

This video is from the We The Patriots USA channel on Brighteon.com.