Was this by email?
Jonathan
Yes KIX, they were by e-mail, and I received two responses from Senator Fonfara:
First:
"Dear Mr. Lopez:
Thank you for your email. The problem that you identify is one of longstanding. There was a bill during the 2011 session reported out of the Public safety Committee that sought to address this issue (municipalities requiring more background information than required by state statute; the length of time municipal officials take to process applications - or even provide applications!), Senate Bill 967. It was reported favorable out of the Public Safety Committee and the Planning and Development Committee but, unfortunately, died in the Judiciary Committee, which took no action on the bill (all bills have to be voted on by any committee of cognizance, as well as by the committee of origin; any bills that relate to municipalities must go through Planning and Development, any bills that petain to legal issues must go through Judiciary).
I am sure that it will be introduced again in the 2012 legislative session, which begins in February, and I will be happy to support it. The one caveat is that the 2012 session is a short session which, under our state constitution, may only deal with matters that have significant fiscal impact on the state budget. If this bill is deemed to not meet that standard, it will have to wait unitl the 2013 session - a long budget session - to be taken up again.
For your information, I have attached a report from our Office of Legislative Research that pertains to the issues you raise. I have also included links below to the text of SB 967, the Bill History page, and the Joint favorable Report issued by the Public Safety Committee. It will be up to the Co-Chairs of Public Safety to reintroduce this bill in the next session, if it meets the fiscal requirement (only committees may introduce bills in the short session).
I hope that you find this information helpful. I am sorry that SB 967 did not pass in the 2011 session; be assured that many legislators are aware of these problems and anxious to pass legislation that would require municipalities to comply. I count myself among them.
Sincerely,
John Fonfara "
Second:
"Dear Wildaliz,
I am forwarding you a constituent email (see below), received by our office today, together with our response. The constituent, "name and address", has an issue with how the Hartford Police Department processes applications for a pistol carry permit, and believes the HPD requirements exceed Connecticut state statutes. As this is a city issue, I am forwarding this to your department in the hope that you are able to address Mr. Lopez's concerns, both with regard to timeliness of application processing by the Hartford Police Department, and the amount of information required by the application. It is our understanding that state statutes outline permit application requirements, but do not currently prohibit any municipality from adding to those requirements.
Mr. Lopez can be reached via email at "e-mail address" or phone at "phone number"; I have copied him on this email.
Thank you very much for your assistance,
Linda Buchanan
Legislative Aide to
State Senator John Fonfara"