Police Seizing Guns Before Crime Is Committed

A Connecticut state law allows police to confiscate guns under suspicions of certain owners’ intentions. State prosecutors and law enforcement officers may obtain seizure warrants out of concerns for an individual’s potential of harming him/herself or others.

More than 1,700 guns have been seized since October 1999, when the law came into effect.

Using a unique state law, police in Connecticut have disarmed dozens of gun owners based on suspicions that they might harm themselves or others.

The state’s gun seizure law is considered the first and only law in the country that allows the confiscation of a gun before the owner commits an act of violence. Police and state prosecutors can obtain seizure warrants based on concerns about someone’s intentions.

State police and 53 police departments have seized more than 1,700 guns since the law took effect in October 1999, according to a new report to the legislature. There are nearly 900,000 privately owned firearms in Connecticut today.

Opponents of a gun seizure law expressed fears in 1999 that police would abuse the law. Today, the law’s backers say the record shows that hasn’t been the case.

Posted by grady
Just another human being. Born in Kansas, raised elsewhere. Enjoys reading, writing, and pissing off religious conservatives 'round the world.