Connecticut’s proposed gun-offender registry would be accessible only to law enforcement, unlike public sex-offender registries, says USA Today. State Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney. Looney says his proposal was driven by the fact that gun-related deaths nearly doubled in New Haven, Connecticut’s second-largest city, from 12 in 2009 to 22 in 2010. Rep. Rosa Rebimbas says the concept is good, but the new registry would be redundant to existing databases that track criminals.
Looney counters that many offenders coming out of prison are not subject to oversight or review and are not easily traceable. He says the registry would target those who are near the end of their sentences and those who have had their sentences suspended. Gun-offender registries exist in four cities and one county: New York, Washington, Baltimore, Utica, N.Y., and Suffolk County, N.Y., says to Arkadi Gerney, special adviser to the New York City mayor. Registered gun offenders in New York City are required to give their home addresses and workplaces to authorities, and they receive home visits from the police, Gerney says. James Bruno, a National Rifle Association instructor, is skeptical the registry would work, but he doesn’t oppose the bill, “as long as it doesn’t affect law-abiding citizens who have the right to carry and bear arms.”