MILFORD, CONN.—The first man has been charged under the new Connecticut assault weapon registration law. Police directing traffic heard a gunshot nearby, and they followed the sound of the gunshot to investigate. They were lead to the home of James Toigo, where an investigation turned up a dead squirrel, an unregistered assault rifle and three high-capacity magazines. The rifle and magazines were seized for further investigation along with several other firearms in Toigo’s home.
Toigo had shot the squirrel on his home property, but not with the unregistered assault rifle that was seized. He was charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm, cruelty to an animal, second-degree breach of peace, first-degree reckless endangerment, failure to register an assault rifle and three counts of possessing large-capacity magazines.
Police suspect that Toigo’s other firearms that were seized were registered, but Toigo will have to petition to get them back.
To say the very least, this story is frustrating and appalling. There are many unanswered questions so far. For instance, on what grounds did the officers search his home? Was this even a warranted search? I am also very curious about what type of firearm the “assault rifle” is, along with the actual capacity of the mags. There are holes in this story that will surely be filled as more information is released.
Firing a gun in the middle of a Connecticut city was not Toigo’s brightest moment. I believe that even though this was most likely a spur-of-the-moment reaction, he brought all of this negative attention upon himself.
Nevertheless, the fact that drives this story is that Toigo refused to register his weapon under Connecticut law, and now he is being punished. This finally makes the new firearm registration laws feel real. We are now seeing this legislation in action. It is vaguely estimated that 150,000-350,000 gun owners in Connecticut stood against registering their firearms. Each of these individuals are at risk of being charged, and will now probably be walking on eggshells when it comes to their firearms.
Toigo was taken into custody and was released on the terms that he will appear in Milford Superior Court on May 13th. Only then will he be able to get it firearms back, which will only be accomplished by petition.
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