Key Takeaways
- Stratford's town council voted unanimously on October 13 to reject a proposal banning firearms on all town-owned property.
- Mayor David Chess pitched the ordinance as a natural extension of existing firearm prohibitions at schools and the police station.
- Lorenzo Whilby, owner of Stratford Guns and Ammo, told the council the ordinance was government overreach.
- Several gun owners and Second Amendment advocates spoke against the measure at the meeting.
- The ordinance included a carveout for valid carry license holders, leaving it with little effect on lawfully armed residents.
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
STRATFORD, CT — A proposal to ban firearms on every piece of town-owned property in Stratford, Connecticut, died on October 13 when the town council voted it down unanimously after gun owners and Second Amendment advocates turned out to oppose it.
Mayor David Chess had pitched the ordinance as a “natural extension” of the prohibitions already in force at the local police station and in the town’s schools, arguing it “made sense” to apply the same rule to Town Hall, the Parks Department, and other town-owned properties, as reported by Connecticut Public. The measure would have reached all town property, not just buildings, and the pushback from gun owners was fierce.
Lorenzo Whilby, who owns Stratford Guns and Ammo, a firearms range and gun store, told the council the ordinance was government overreach. “We should be able to protect ourselves in Stratford, not you guys trying to take our rights away from us,” Whilby said. He was not the only one. Several other gun owners spoke against the measure at the same meeting, and many of them took offense at the town’s effort in a state that already has some of the strictest gun laws in the country.
The ordinance also included a carveout for people holding valid carry licenses. Connecticut does not permit open carry, and carrying in public without a permit is already illegal there, which left the proposal doing very little to anyone who was lawfully armed in the first place and nothing at all to anyone who was not.
Chess defended the proposal on its intent. “The whole idea again is to protect our community, there is no other motive here,” Chess said.
More from USA Carry:
A state pistol permit is the gateway to lawful carry in Connecticut, and readers can find the particulars in my Connecticut concealed carry guide. Permit holders are the people the Stratford ordinance would have reached, and they are the people who showed up to say so.
A unanimous council reversal on a mayor’s own proposal does not happen because residents posted about it. It happens because they filled the room, took the microphone, and put their objections on the record in front of the people casting the vote.
