Parents watch House pass ‘Ethan’s Law’

The Connecticut House of Representatives voted 127-16 Tuesday night to approve a bipartisan gun safety bill sought by the parents of Ethan Song, a 15-year-old Guilford boy killed while handling a .357 Magnum pistol at a neighbor’s house.

One of two gun measures easily passed Tuesday night, the bill dubbed “Ethan’s Law” would require gun owners to safely store untended firearms, whether loaded or unloaded. Current law applies only to loaded weapons, even if ammunition is available.

“In our state law, there is a gigantic loophole,” said Rep. Sean Scanlon, D-Guilford, a sponsor of  the safe-storage bill.

The second bill would regulate 3D-printed firearms and ban so-called “ghost guns” that can be assembled from untraceable parts, unless the owner obtains and engraves the weapon with a serial number obtained from the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection. It passed on a 108-36 vote.

Ethan’s parents, Michael and Kristin Song, watched from the gallery as the House voted to pass and send the safe-storage bill to the Senate. Michael pumped his fist and gestured to Scanlon, who looked up at the couple. Kristin was briefly overcome, closing her eyes.

“It’s very bittersweet for me,” Kristin said. “I’m so happy that people are willing to step up and make a change, especially the Republicans who have had enough courage to do the right thing, which is — the bottom line is protect children and to stop the flow of guns into improper hands.”

Her husband glanced skyward as the bill passed.

“I alternately felt like Ethan was right next to me and also so far away from me,” he said.

He gave the House two thumbs up. Scanlon nodded.

Kristin said she was gratified by support, but still confused by some of the angry calls and messages from people who blamed the Songs for their son’s death, faulting them for not educating him about firearms.  The Songs say they had no idea that their neighbor kept guns or that they were so easily available to teenage boys.

“Guns weren’t on our radar,” Kristin said.

“But we did talk to him about guns to some extent,” Michael said.

Kristin said they were more concerned about opioids, which had claimed lives in Guilford.

Ethan accidentally shot himself on Jan. 31, 2018, playing with one of three firearms he and a friend knew were kept in a bedroom closet. The .357 Magnum was one of three owned by the friend’s father, a private investigator. 

The firearms were stored in a cardboard box inside a Tupperware container. The guns had trigger locks, but the keys were in the same box. So was the ammunition. A prosecutor found no evidence to show the gun was loaded, a necessary element to charge criminal negligence.

The Songs have moved. The owners of the house where Ethan died ripped out the carpet in the room where he died and moved back, Kristin said.

The campaign for Ethan’s Law has consumed much of the Songs’ time. Kristin said she only spoke to the cemetery Tuesday morning about a headstone, saying she had been putting off setting the date of her son’s death in stone.

Under current law, gun owners have a legal duty to securely store a firearm when the weapon is loaded and there is a reasonable chance that a minor under age 16 is likely to gain access to it without his or her parent’s permission.

In addition to expanding the law to cover unloaded weapons, the bill raises the age of children covered by it to anyone under 18. It also requires the state Department of Education to develop a gun safety curriculum for use by local schools, should they choose.

Gov. Ned Lamont applauded passage of both bills.

“The overwhelming majority of Connecticut residents want us to close the gaping loopholes that allow guns to get into the wrong hands, and any measure that encourages safe gun storage to help keep children, residents, and families safe is an action I will always support,” Lamont said. “I urge the Senate to join the House in adopting these bills so that I can sign them into law as soon as possible.”

Fifteen Republicans and one Democrat, Rep. Patrick Boyd of Pomfret, voted against the safe-storage bill. Boyd and Rep. Buddy Altobello of Meriden were the two Democrats voting with 34 Republicans in opposition to the ghost guns bill.

Ethan’s Law had quickly become a bipartisan effort led by two lawmakers who represent portions of Guilford: Scanlon, a Democrat, and Rep. Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford.

“Out of an unspeakable tragedy has come something that I would describe as beautiful,” Scanlon said, describing the rare stongly bipartisan effort on anything relating to firearms. “I want to thank the Songs for everything they did to get here.”

Scanlon’s voice occasionally quavered as he spoke in favor of the bill, glancing at his constituents in the gallery.

Candelora often votes against gun-control measures, as he did on the ghost gun bill. But he called Ethan’s Law a “gun-storage” bill drafted in consultation with a broad range of lawmakers, supported by the Democratic and Republican leadership of the House and its Judiciary Committee.

“The conversation that began was how can we address this issues and make safe storage in Connecticut better so it doesn’t happen again,” Candelora said. “And the dialogue didn’t start with picketing or pressure, but it started with conversation. I thank the Song family, because that’s the way we should do things in this chamber.”