House Republican Press Release

December 27, 2007

Press Office: 860-240-8700

Rep. O’Neill: Funding of Gun Trafficking Task Force yields results

At the beginning of the 2007 legislative session, I introduced legislation to reinstate full funding to the statewide gun trafficking task force. After working together with my legislative colleagues and Gov. Rell, $400,000 in state funding was added to this year’s budget.

The state police have reported that as a result of that funding, the task force was able to seize 656 illegal firearms and arrest 37 people on gun trafficking charges during 2007. By way of comparison, in 2005, working with a $50,000 federal grant, the task force was only able to seize 24 illegal guns.

I was an original proponent of the statewide task force when it was created in 2000. At that time, when it was adequately funded, it was successful in removing both illegal firearms and gun traffickers from our streets. 

It is my hope that the legislature will maintain adequate funding so that the task force can continue to take guns and gun traffickers off of Connecticut streets and send the message to would-be gun traffickers that Connecticut is really serious about cracking down on illegal gun sales.