A photo of a gun-control advocate writing a text to her daughter, police said
A photo of a gun-control advocate writing a text to her daughter, police said

State Capitol police expelled an unnamed gun-control advocate from a public hearing Monday after someone photographed her sending a text message in which she imagined shooting NRA members and a legislator opposed to gun control.

Police Chief Walter Lee said police concluded after an investigation there was no probable cause to charge her with threatening.

“If I had a gun, I’d blow away Sampson and a large group of NRA,” read the text, photographed before it was finished.

Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Southington, is a member of the Judiciary Committee, which heard testimony on seven gun bills Monday. An opponent of gun-control bills, Sampson questioned proponents about their constitutionality and efficacy.

The text was sent to the women’s daughter, not a lawmaker or NRA member, Lee said. She does not own a firearm.

The woman was apologetic and left without incident after being questioned, police said.

Mark is the Capitol Bureau Chief and a co-founder of CT Mirror. He is a frequent contributor to WNPR, a former state politics writer for The Hartford Courant and Journal Inquirer, and contributor for The New York Times.

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6 Comments

  1. I have often wondered whether the more vehement of gun control supporters did so because they couldn’t be trusted with a firearm and they just assumed everyone else was like themselves and couldn’t be trusted with a firearm either. Ironic how a gun control supporter answered the question for me.

  2. My condolences and deepest sympathy to the family who lost their son, who are the basis for these stricter firearm storage laws. However, before jumping to more laws and emotion driven politics. Let’s review the facts. The handgun used in the accident was: stored in a doored closet, under a blanket, within a plastic container, inside a cardboard box, with a trigger lock and unloaded. Additionally, it was a revolver, which has an exposed cylinder, allowing visual reaffirmation of the state of the firearm being in a loaded, or unloaded state. So, with all the precautions that were taken, this accident still happened. Unfortunately, the failure to respect personal property, disrgard for the danger of firearms, and the act of unlocking and loading the firearm are not being considered as factors related to this death. Being brought up in a home with fireams, I was taught to respect and recognize the dangers of mishandling them at a very young age. Just as was taught to respect and understand dangers of mishandling a band saw and a table saw. Things haven’t changed. We still need to teach our children personal responsibility, if we want to keep them safe. Creating even more restrictive laws and giving poliicians another issue to campaign upon, is not the answer.

  3. Ironic humor: CT gun control advocate threatens to shoot those opposed to gun control. Did you intend to publish this on The Onion site?

  4. Gun-control zealots are often the most unstable people. Most truly believe that if we passed gun laws that would eliminate gun violence. And who is to blame them since they have been told that by much of the media, as well as our own jr. Senator. And they mistakenly believe that the NRA, which is perhaps the only organization that promotes gun safety and safe gun-handling, are the ones who are happily shooting people indiscriminantly.

  5. “A second anti-gun activist was escorted from a gun-control hearing Monday after reportedly using a police officer to circumvent security measures and bring in a firearm receiver.

    The hearing, which was open to the public and addressed a number of proposed gun control measures, attracted activists on both sides of gun issues. A large group of anti-gun activists, wearing matching shirts from the group Connecticut Against Gun Violence, attended to hear testimony from Executive Director Jeremy Stein.

    According to Ray Bevis, legislative coordinator for the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, Stein’s testimony did not go exactly as planned. Bevis told The Daily Caller that Stein had asked to bring as a prop a firearm receiver — and had been told that he would not be allowed to bring it.

    But instead of making his point without the prop, Stein reportedly asked Bridgeport Police Chief A.J. Perez to bring the firearm component in for him, thus circumventing security measures. Perez also testified on Monday in favor of stricter gun control laws.

    This is on the same day when an anti-gun activist was caught expressing her desire to gun down the opposition.

    However, Stein accidentally proved why gun laws are so completely useless.

    After all, the law expressly forbids him from bringing that receiver into the hearing, yet he did it anyway. He was apparently so convinced of the righteousness of his own cause that he figured the rules didn’t apply to him.

    Kind of like how criminals figure the rules don’t apply to them, so they ignore them.”

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