CT Gov. Lamont seeking new gun control bill. Here’s what it does
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Trying to stop a dangerous trend, Gov. Ned Lamont called Monday for banning pistols that can be converted easily into automatic machine guns.
With relative ease, convertible pistols with “a simple Lego-sized switch,” known as Glock switches, can be transformed into highly powerful weapons, police said.
Hartford police seized 51 Glock switches between 2023 and 2024 as the trend spread and the devices were found across the state. Nationally, more than 31,000 of the devices were recovered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives between 2019 and 2023, officials said.
Lamont’s four-page measure, known as House Bill 5043, would outlaw the future sale, manufacturing, purchase, and importation of the convertible pistols in Connecticut.
“These are ways that you can turn just a regular pistol into a machine gun,” Lamont told reporters Monday at the West Hartford police headquarters. “That makes the world — it makes our state — a lot less safe. Any time you have Students Demand Action, along with the police chiefs standing up, I think you know you’re on the right track.”
Lamont added, “States that have strong gun safety laws — going back 30 years — you’ve seen gun crimes go down dramatically. Probably much lower in our state and other states with strong gun safety laws than Georgia and Mississippi and other places. Over that same 30-year period, you’ve seen states that don’t have strong gun safety laws increase the number of gun crimes by about 19 or 20%.”
After passing various gun laws in the past, Lamont said that the world of firearms and criminals is always evolving. In 2018, the state legislature passed a law that outlawed the possession and sale of bump stocks, along with trigger cranks and devices that make the gun operate like an automatic weapon. The law change was made after a shooter at a high-rise hotel in Las Vegas killed nearly 60 people and wounded hundreds more at an outdoor concert by firing an estimated 90 rounds every 10 seconds.
“We put in place laws, and then they come up with new ways to come up and end-run the law,” Lamont said. “These Glock-style switches are really dangerous.”
In California, lawmakers passed a similar bill in October 2025 that was expected to take effect in law on July 1, but the case is now pending in court under a federal lawsuit by the National Rifle Association and other groups. The California law and Lamont’s bill both mention “cruciform trigger bars” — which are related to Glock guns.
“There’s a reflexive lawsuit every time you try and put in place some gun safety laws,” Lamont told reporters. “That’s just the world in which we live.”
While Connecticut’s bill is broadly modeled after California’s law, Lamont said, “We’ve made some changes to make it less susceptible to an appeal.”
West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor said the problem is not isolated to the cities. West Hartford police have seized two of the devices in the past three months.
“While Connecticut has some of the toughest gun laws in the country, we continue to confront new and evolving threats,” Cantor said as Lamont stood nearby. “West Hartford is not alone. Communities across Connecticut, large and small, urban and suburban, with diverse economic and geographic profiles have already seen a rise in these incidents.”
Sen. Derek Slap, a West Hartford Democrat who is co-sponsoring the bill, said it would not only make it safer for the general public but also for police officers.
Opposition
While Lamont and gun safety advocates strongly favor the bill, supporters of the Second Amendment are pushing back. They have submitted written testimony, including more than 180 anonymously, to the legislature’s Judiciary Committee that will be holding a hearing on the controversial bill on Wednesday.
“The governor’s latest proposal is another election year distraction, an attempt to blame a legitimate manufacturing industry for the failings of a legal system that too often allows violent criminals, including those who illegally used firearms during the commission of their crimes, back onto Connecticut streets,” said state Rep. Craig Fishbein of Wallingford, who is the ranking House Republican on the Judiciary Committee. “Forcing firearm manufacturers to modify their products solely due to criminal acts committed with their lawful products is a wild expansion of government’s power, and will establish a precedent that could have long lasting, negative effects on myriad industries like automobile, appliance, construction equipment manufacturers, and more.”
Brandon Beaudoin, co-owner of Fundamental Firearms LLC, predicted in written testimony that Lamont’s bill would be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. He cited the high court’s precedents in cases known as Bruen, Heller, and McDonald.
“HB 5043 is unconstitutional under current Supreme Court precedent,” Beaudoin wrote. “Bruen requires that firearm regulations be ‘consistent with this nation’s historical tradition’ — a standard this ban on modern firearms cannot meet. Connecticut should not enact laws that undermine the constitutional rights affirmed by Heller, McDonald, and Bruen. For these reasons, I urge the committee to oppose HB 5043 and instead focus on policies that respect constitutional rights while effectively targeting criminal misuse of firearms.”
West Hartford police Chief Vernon Riddick Jr., who supports Lamont’s bill, declined to say how quickly a gun could be converted.
“It’s not that difficult,” Riddick said when asked by The Courant. “To turn a pistol into a machine gun is quite a deadly weapon. It’s a weapon of war. … People who are more mechanically inclined could probably do this quickly.”
Sandy Hook
Audrey Nichols of Students Demand Action survived the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in December 2012 when she was in the school in the second grade as a 7-year-old. In the years since, Nichols has started speaking out.
“It took me a while to find my voice, but I’m here now,” Nichols told The Courant. “We need to keep doing more.”
The Sandy Hook shootings caused the deaths of 20 schoolchildren and six educators and generated national and international headlines. Since then, Nichols has seen shootings at other schools across the country.
“I see the little Audrey and her experience reflected back at me,” Nichols said.
Now aged 21 as a junior at the University of Connecticut, Nichols started giving interviews when she was in high school and said that some people listen to her because of her background.
“I saw the impact I could have,” Nichols said. “I’ll definitely continue my advocacy journey.”
Christopher Keating can be reached at [email protected]
