Month: June 2016

The Connecticut Citizens Defense League is a non-partisan, grassroots organization devoted to advocating rights affirmed by the Constitutions of the United States of America and the State of Connecticut.

For the upcoming 2016 election, the CCDL Executive Committee has considered the past voting record and views that each candidate holds with respect to our constitutional rights.

This year, our job of vetting candidates has come with some regret. Some legislators we endorsed in the past have voted for a gun control bill (HB5054) this past session. Interestingly enough, some legislators who voted for gun control in 2013 reversed course and did not support gun control efforts this year. While we applaud this turn around, at this time we simply cannot endorse candidates who supported SB1160 in 2013.

One important point: This year, more legislators from both parties voted for anti-gun bills, than voted for them during the emotionally charged 2013 session. This trend should concern all gun owners, and be a cause for them to actively support the following candidates:

CCDL Endorsed Candidate List updated 11/4/16

CT House:
District  Candidate Name  Towns Represented
    8 Timothy J. ‘Tim’ Ackert – Columbia, Coventry, Tolland, Vernon
    9 Richard Lion – East Hartford, Manchester
  13 Mark Tweedie – Glastonbury, Manchester
  23 Devin R Carney – Lyme, Old Lyme, Saybrook, Westbrook
  24 Jim Sanders – New Britain, Newington
  30 Chris Morelli – Berlin, Southington
  33 Linda J Szynkowicz – Middletown
  34 Melissa H. Ziobron – Colchester, East Haddam, East Hampton
  35 Jesse D MacLachlan – Clinton, Killingworth, Westbrook
  36 Bob Siegrist – Chester, Deep River, Essex, Haddam
  37 Holly H Cheeseman – East Lyme, Salem
  38 Lauren Shaw – Montville, Waterford
  39 Andrew Lockwood – New London
  40 John F Scott – Groton, Ledyard
  41 Aundre P Bumgardner – Groton, New London
  42 Mike France – Ledyard, Montville, Preston
  44 Anne Dauphinais – Killingly, Plainfield
  45 Kevin Skulczyck – Griswold, Lisbon, Plainfield, Sterling, Voluntown
  45 Tracey Hanson – Griswold, Lisbon, Plainfield, Sterling, Voluntown
  47 Doug Dubitsky – Norwich, Sprague, Franklin, Lebanon, Lisbon, Hampton, Chaplin, Canterbury, Scotland
  48 Evan A. Evans – Colchester, Lebanon, Mansfield, Windham
  49 Tony Fantoli – Windham
  50 Pat Boyd – Brooklyn, Eastford, Pomfret, Union, Woodstock
  52 Kurt Vail – Somers, Stafford
  53 Sam Belsito – Ashford, Tolland, Willington
  57 Christopher C Davis – East Windsor, Ellington
  61 Tami Zawistowski – Suffield, East Granby, Windsor
  62 Bill Simanski – Barkhamsted, East Granby, Granby, New Hartford
  63 Jay M. Case – Colebrook, Goshen, Torrington, Winchester
  64 Brian Ohler – Canaan, Cornwall, Goshen, Kent, Norfolk, North Canaan, Salisbury, Sharon,Torrington
  66 David T Wilson – Bethlehem, Litchfield, Morris, Warren, Woodbury
  68 Eric C. Berthel – Oakville, Watertown, Woodbury
  70 Rosa Rebimbas – Naugatuck
  73 Steve Giacomi – Waterbury
  76 John E Piscopo – Burlington, Harwinton, Litchfield, Thomaston
  77 Cara C Pavalock – Bristol
  78 Whit Betts – Bristol, Plymouth, Terryville
  80 Robert C. ‘Rob’ Sampson – Wolcott, Southington
  83 Joseph Vollano – Berlin, Meriden
  85 Serge G Mihaly – Wallingford
  86 Vincent Candelora – Durham, Guilford, North Branford, Wallingford
  88 Marjorie Bonadies – Hamden
  89 Lezlye Zupkus – Bethany, Cheshire, Prospect
  90 Craig Fishbein – Cheshire, Wallingford
  99 Steve Tracey – East Haven
102 Chris Kelly – Branford
103 Andy Falvey – Cheshire, Southington, Wallingford
104 Joseph Jaumann – Ansonia, Derby
112 J.P. Sredzinski – Monroe, Newtown
113 Jason Perillo – Shelton
118 Rick Varrone – Milford
119 Pam Staneski – Orange, Milford
122 Ben McGorty – Shelton, Stratford, Trumbull
126 Anthony Pizighelli – Bridgeport
131 David K. Labriola – Naugatuck, Oxford, Southbury

CT Senate:
District  Candidate Name  Towns Represented
  2 Theresa Tillett – Hartford, Bloomfield, Windsor
  6 Charles Paonessa – Berlin, Farmington, New Britain
  7 John A. Kissel – East Granby, Enfield, Granby, Somers, Suffield, Windsor, Windsor Locks
  8 Kevin D Witkos – Avon, Barkhamsted, Canton, Colebrook, Granby, Hartland, Harwinton, New Hartford, Norfolk, Simsbury, Torrington
13 Len Suzio – Cheshire, Meriden, Middletown, Middlefield
14 Pat Libero – Milford, Orange, West Haven, Woodbridge
16 Joe Markley – Cheshire, Prospect, Southington, Wolcott, Waterbury
18 Heather Somers – Griswold, Groton, North Stonington, Plainfield, Preston, Sterling, Stonington, Voluntown
19 Barbara Crouch – Columbia, Franklin, Hebron, Lebanon, Ledyard, Lisbon, Marlborough, Montville, Norwich, Sprague
19 Catherine A. ‘Cathy’ Osten – Columbia, Franklin, Hebron, Lebanon, Ledyard, Lisbon, Marlborough, Montville, Norwich, Sprague
20 Paul M Formica – Bozrah, East Lyme, Montville, New London, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Salem, Waterford
22 Elaine Hammers – Bridgeport, Monroe, Trumbull
29 John French – Brooklyn, Canterbury, Killingly, Mansfield, Putnam, Scotland, Thompson, Windham
30 Craig A Miner – Brookfield, Canaan, Cromwell, Goshen, Kent, Litchfield, Morris, New Milford, North Canaan, Salisbury, Sharon, Torrington, Warren, Winchester

31 Henri R Martin – Bristol, Harwinton, Plainville, Plymouth, Thomaston
32 Robert J. ‘Rob’ Kane – Bethlehem, Bridgewater, Middlebury, Oxford, Seymour, Southbury, Roxbury, Washington, Watertown, Woodbury
33 Art Linares – Chester, Clinton, Colchester, Deep River, East Haddam, East Hampton, Essex, Haddam, Lyme, Old Saybrook, Portland, Westbrook
35 Tony Guglielmo – Ashford, Chaplin, Coventry, Eastford, Ellington, Hampton, Pomfret, Stafford, Tolland, Union, Vernon, Willington, Woodstock

US House:
District  Candidate Name
1 Matthew Corey
2 Daria Novak
2 Dan Reale
3 Angel Cadena
5 Clay Cope

US Senate:
Candidate Name
Dan Carter

*CCDL reserves the right to add or remove candidates as they are vetted by the Executive Committee. This page may be updated to reflect that.

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11/4/2016 – Added:
CT House 48 Evan Evans

10/26/2016 – Added:
CT House 9 Richard Lion
CT House 112 J.P. Sredzinski
US House 2 Dan Reale

10/25/2016 – Added:
CT House 99 Steve Tracey
CT House 104 Joseph Jaumann

10/12/2016 – Added:
CT House 102 Chris Kelly

10/4/2016 – Added:
CT House 45 Tracey Hanson
CT House 126 Anthony Pizighelli
CT Senate 14 Pat Libero

8/28/2016 – Added:
CT House 39 Andrew Lockwood
CT House 50 Pat Boyd
CT House 66 David T Wilson
CT House 118 Rick Varrone
CT Senate 6 Charles Paonessa
CT Senate 22 Elaine Hammers

8/8/2016 – Added:
CT House 45 Kevin Skulczyck
CT House 83 Joseph Vollano
CT House 88 Marjorie Bonadies

8/8/2016 – Corrected:
CT House 63 Jay Case (corrected towns covered)

7/4/2016 – Added:
CT House 68 Eric Berthel
CT House 86 Vin Candelora

6/29/2016 – Added:
CT House 78 Whit Betts
US House 1 Matthew Corey

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**

U.S. SUPREME COURT DECLINES TO HEAR CHALLENGE TO CONNECTICUT’S BAN ON POPULAR SEMI-AUTOMATIC FIREARMS

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA – The United States Supreme Court declined on Monday to review a lower court’s ruling refusing to strike down on Second Amendment grounds Connecticut’s ban on certain semi-automatic firearms including the most popular rifles in the Nation. The Connecticut Citizens’ Defense League (CCDL) and other plaintiffs challenged Connecticut’s ban in 2013, arguing that the ban openly flouts the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, which held that law-abiding citizens have an individual right to keep commonly owned firearms in their homes for self-defense.

According to Scott Wilson, President of the CCDL, the banned firearms are very rarely used by criminals, and the only things that distinguish them from non-banned firearms are external features such as thumbhole stocks and pistol grips that promote safe and accurate use. While criminals typically do not use the banned firearms, law-abiding citizens do. Mr. Wilson stated that “the firearms the State has chosen to ban are very frequently used by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes such as home-defense, hunting, and target shooting. In fact, one of the banned firearms, the AR-15, is the best-selling rifle in the United States.”

The federal courts have split over the correct way to analyze Second Amendment challenges after Heller, with most courts applying a fairly weak form of review ordinarily reserved for less-important rights. The Plaintiffs, Mr. Wilson said, had hoped the High Court would step in and reaffirm that the Second Amendment is not a “second-class” right. The lower court’s decision in this case was particularly indefensible, as the unconstitutionality of Connecticut’s ban follows directly from the Supreme Court’s reasoning in Heller. Mr. Wilson suggested that the Court’s decision to decline review may have been influenced by the recent, unfortunate death of Justice Antonin Scalia, the author if the Heller decision.

“We fully intend to renew our challenge to Connecticut’s blatantly unconstitutional ban as soon as there are five Justices sitting on the Supreme Court committed to the proper understanding of the Second Amendment.”

Scott Wilson Sr.
President
CCDL, Inc.
www.ccdl.us

06/12/2016
for Immediate Release:

Scott Wilson, President of the Connecticut Citizens Defense League issues the following statements in response to Senators Blumenthal and Murphy’s comments about the Orlando nightclub mass shooting:

“While CCDL members and most compassionate Americans are still thinking only of the victims and families of this horrific act, Senators Blumenthal and Murphy are more concerned with advancing their political careers. Once again our two senators are calling for more laws that would only impact persons who actually obey the laws of our society. The individual who perpetrated this mass shooting broke numerous laws, and it is bordering on insanity at this point for those looking to score political points over this incident to believe otherwise”.

“It is shameful that our two senators fail to address the root causes behind these incidents. They would rather curtail lawful gun ownership than deal with those more difficult issues.”

“Again we have a shooting in a so-called ‘gun free zone’; a location where it is against the law for licensed and background checked persons to carry a firearm for protection. In Florida it is illegal to carry a firearm into any portion of an establishment that serves alcoholic beverages. Again, a murderer ignored the laws.”

Wilson went on to say the following:

“If certain lawmakers are looking to place the blame for these types of incidents, they should look squarely in the mirror and admit to themselves that the utopian fantasies of gun free zones simply do not work. For the proponents of gun control, these incidents are the gifts that allow them to renew the push for their failed agenda”.

–End–

About the CCDL: The Connecticut Citizens Defense League was formed in 2009 by a small group of concerned citizens as a non-partisan organization to advocate second amendment rights in the state of Connecticut. Since their founding, the group has grown to over 23,000 members from across the state.

Thanks to this large supportive base, the CCDL has become a fixture at the state capitol, and well-recognized by committees that see firearms related bills.

As the go-to organization in the state they are consulted regularly by lawmakers who have questions and concerns about pending legislation or existing laws. For more information on the CCDL please visit http://www.ccdl.us

Press Contact:
Scott Wilson
president@ccdl.us