By: José Niño

The Connecticut Citizens Defense League (CCDL) is suing the state of Connecticut over its fingerprinting system.

The pro-Second Amendment group’s argument is that Gov. Ned Lamont’s (D) policy represents an infringement on their Second Amendment rights.

Back in 2020, CCDL sued the state after it stopped fingerprinting due to the Wuhan virus pandemic. Per Connecticut law, any individual who wants to attain a pistol permit must submit their fingerprints.

Thanks to CCDL’s constant pressure, a judge ruled that the fingerprinting process must resume immediately. “If you’re a gun store, you make money, you earn your living selling guns, and [if] you can’t sell guns, you’re shut down,” attorney Doug Dubitsky said. According to CCDL, firearms stores are struggling to make ends meet due to two new systems the state has recently implemented.

As a result of this development, the CCDL is filing an emergency motion to remedy this situation. One of the systems is a brand-new fingerprinting system; the CCDL says the system’s software is giving police departments fits because they have not been adequately trained to use it.

The other system that CCDL has taken exception to is the new firearm purchase approval system. In the case that an individual wants to purchase a firearm, Sharon Johnson and Andrew Masse of WFSB noted, “…firearm licensees have to call the state through the system to get approval, but they say that system is down.”

“Currently, that system has collapsed. Right now, there are stores that are calling literally thousands of times,” Dubitsky said.

Eyewitness News spoke to one gun store owner who requested anonymity.

The man said the approval system was only able to get connected twice in the past five days. In addition, the gun store owner revealed customers have to put up with two to three hour waits.

“There are FFLs and shops in the state that are being deeply hurt,” CCDL President Holly Sullivan said.

Since the Sandy Hook Massacre of 2012, Connecticut’s Second Amendment politics has taken a turn for the worst. Universal background checks, high-capacity magazine bans, and bump stock bans were among the most prominent gun control measures passed in the years that followed the tragic shooting.

Guns & Ammo magazine has Connecticut ranked at an abysmal 45th place for states most amenable to gun owners. Connecticut isn’t turning Republican anytime soon, either. CCDL has the right idea given the current political circumstances. Gun owners in solid blue states will have to rely on litigation and even local nullification of unconstitutional laws to see any meaningful changes in gun policy.

That’s how the cookie crumbles these days.

José Niño is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. Sign up for his mailing list here. Contact him via Facebook, Twitter, or email him at [email protected]. Get his e-book, The 10 Myths of Gun Control, here.