Connecticut’s law makes it a felony for an individual to possess an “assault weapon” that was not in their possession on or before April 3, 2013 and requires that an individual have a certificate of possession for each “assault weapon” they do have. As with any number of other states that have implemented similar bans, Connecticut’s law specifies firearms by name and by various features to define what constitutes an “assault weapon”.
Ironically, the Constitution State’s law violates the Second Amendment by denying individuals the ability to acquire arms that are in common use for lawful purposes. The Government cannot ban those arms simply because they do not like the features that they may possess, particularly since they are not dangerous and unusual. While Connecticut’s law withstood prior legal challenges, that was under the now abrogated two-step test that courts erroneously employed when examining Second Amendment challenges.
On September 29, 2022 the Second Amendment Foundation filed suit, along with another civil rights organization, and three individuals. The lawsuit asks a federal court to ensure that the People of Connecticut may exercise their Second Amendment rights by declaring that the ban violates the Second Amendment and enjoining the Defendants from enforcing the ban.
Case Team: Cameron Lee Atkinson, Craig C. Fishbein, and Doug Dubitsky
Case Documents
To access all of the case documents at the District Court, please visit the docket.
To view documents filed on appeal, please visit the Court of Appeals docket.
Case Media