On Monday, a federal judge dismissed the National Shooting Sport Foundation’s challenge to new gun laws passed in April in response to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
U.S. District Court Judge Janet C. Hall concluded Monday that the trade organization lacked standing, and did not rule on its underlying allegation that the General Assembly “misused” the emergency certification process when it passed the legislation.
The 139-page bill passed in April circumvented the normal committee process because legislative leaders declared it an emergency.
By bypassing the process, the state deprived “the citizens of Connecticut of any opportunity for their voices to be communicated to the legislators and incorporated into SB 1160,” the National Shooting Sports Foundation claimed when it filed the lawsuit in July.
However, Judge Hall said the NSSF complaint “does no more than state a ‘generally available grievance about government,’ which grievance is insufficient to support standing.”
Michael Bazinet, a spokesman for NSSF, said the organization will be reviewing the decision and weighing its options.
The NSSF lawsuit was one of at least three lawsuits filed in state or federal court challenging the legislation. The law expanded the number of firearms prohibited in Connecticut and banned the sale of ammunition magazines that carry more than 10 rounds. Attorney General George Jepsen’s office asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed.