CONECT makes strides in effort to stop gun violence

By Nick Solari

Congregations Organized for a New Connecticut (CONECT), a New Haven-based multi-faith organization committed to fighting for social and economic justice, has recently stepped up its campaign against gun violence.

The campaign’s first component, which deals specifically with gun manufacturers, was addressed in CONECT’s assembly meeting on Jan. 20. The meeting was attended by 650 people from member congregations and featured Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy.

The campaign is called “Do Not Stand Idly By,” which was taken from Leviticus 19:16 (“Do not stand idly by while the blood of your neighbor is shed.”).

“Do Not Stand Idly By” focuses on urging gun manufacturers to keep firearms out of the hands of gun stores that sell weapons to criminals, said CONECT lead organizer Matt McDermott.

According to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), approximately 57 percent of the firearms involved in crimes trace back to 1 percent of the nation’s gun stores.

“We’ve been working to get gun manufacturers to play ball as it pertains to tightening their own distribution systems to prevent gun dealers from selling weapons to criminals,” McDermott said. “It’s a small fraction of gun dealers that actually sell to criminals, so we think it should not be difficult for the manufacturers to crack down on the handful of bad-actor gun dealers that create a lion share of the problem.”

CONECT has also pushed to have smart-technology attached to guns. The goal is to get manufacturers to “play ball,” according to McDermott.

“We don’t want to push too soon to say public purchasers should buy smart guns. We know these things have to be tested and 100 percent reliable before we’d push for a police department to get them,” he said.

McDermott said CONECT feels the government has significant leverage in the situation. The public tax dollar purchases of guns, he said, adds up to roughly 40 percent of all revenue for gun producers.

“If the purchasers were demanding, you’d have significant leverage to get manufacturers to take these issues seriously,” McDermott said. “That’s the strategy we’ve been working on.”

Recently, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) praised CONECT’s initiative on gun safety.

“I was really proud to stand with [President Obama] earlier this year in his new executive order, and I hope that you’re proud that many of the ideas that you’ve been on the forefront of, fighting for, like pressuring out gun manufacturers to make guns safer, were elements of his executive order,” Murphy said.

In a recorded video posted on CONECT’s Facebook page, Murphy said he has been trying to convince his colleagues to act.

“I couldn’t be more committed to working with you on the path ahead to reduce gun violence,” Murphy added.

McDermott said CONECT and sister organizations have gotten 83 municipalities or jurisdictions to sign on, claiming that the next time they produce weapons they will ask “serious questions” to ensure guns are getting in the right hands.

“We want to get gun companies to talk about their practices,” McDermott said. “We can encourage gun companies to be models, to be responsible in these areas.”

Nick Solari is a senior journalism major at Quinnipiac University. He is writing about religion this spring. He can be reached at nicholas.solari@quinnipiac.edu.

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Inspections combat underage drinking in New Haven

By Megan Alderman-Person

With its close proximity to multiple colleges and more than 250 bars and nightclubs, New Haven is teeming with young people going out for a drink on any given weekend night. While most bars and nightclubs try to regulate their customers, underage drinking still occurs. To combat this problem, the state liquor commission conducts unannounced inspections to make sure both businesses and their customers are complying with the law.

Inspections are a joint effort between the state liquor commission and the city’s police department, according to Dave Hartman, New Haven police spokesman. In past years, the task force team for inspections has also included the fire marshal’s office and health department.

Inspections are rarely completely random, said Hartman.

“If you have a bar and people believe that they’re serving large numbers of students underage, we have gotten complaints from the universities, from parents and from other businesses in the area … that certainly weighs in,” Hartman said.

The general manager of Bar, Frank Patrick, is no stranger to inspections. Bar operates a restaurant by day and bar and nightclub on Thursday through Saturday nights. Because every room in Bar has an actual bar in it, all customers must be at least 21 years old or be accompanied by a parent to enter. In the 13 years that the liquor license has been in his name, Patrick said he has never had a violation during an inspection.

“We have a reputation of being strict with IDs, so we are going to get raided less,” Patrick said. “The police department tends to know what places are trouble places, so they’ll go there more often.”

Inspections often do not happen immediately after a complaint is made. The turnaround time is based on the availability of control agents from the state liquor department, according to Hartman. The agents then contact the police department, which puts together a group of people to supplement its team. However, if it is an issue of public safety, Hartman said, the city will send officers in right away.

These inspections are usually a surprise to the establishments and do not generally follow any pattern. Sometimes, Bar will have inspections a couple of times a year, but other times it will not have an inspection for more than a year, according to Patrick.

“They want to surprise you because there are a lot of bars out there that turn a blind eye to underage drinking,” Patrick said.

During the inspections, no customers are allowed to leave or come in. Patrick said the inspections do not hurt his business, but some of the time, the customers will give the liquor commission’s officers a hard time.

If an underage person is caught drinking during one of the inspections, they will most likely be cited for an infraction for underage drinking, but the establishments face bigger repercussions.

“The immediate responsibility is on the person serving the alcohol to ensure that where the alcohol goes is to someone of appropriate age,” Hartman said.

Meghan Alderman-Person is a senior journalism major at Quinnipiac University. She is writing about food this spring. She can be reached at meghan.alderman-person@quinnipiac.edu.

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