NEWTOWN, Conn. — The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry, issued the following statement today:
The firearms industry has a long history in Connecticut and to this day has a sizeable economic presence and workforce in the Constitution State. We are disappointed therefore that the General Assembly’s Task Force could not reach a bipartisan agreement on proposals to prevent future violence involving the criminal misuse of firearms.
NSSF agrees with suggestions that the focus should be to keep firearms out of the wrong hands, but an outright ban of the most popular semiautomatic rifle in the United States today, as some are suggesting, for what are essentially cosmetic reasons would make no one safer and is unfair to the millions of people who have purchased them legally and use them responsibly for hunting, shooting competition and home defense. It also holds the real prospect of affecting employment in our state because underlying issues go deeper than whether manufacturing exemptions would be issued. We will review all proposals in more detail and will continue to be a resource to achieve our common goal of a safer Connecticut.