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Norwalk mother pleads with legislators for stronger additions to Red Flag Law

Connecticut lawmakers debated a proposed addition to the state’s “Red Flag Law,” which would make it easier for family members to get help for their loved ones who may be dangerously using guns.

News 12 Staff

Mar 5, 2021, 11:30 PM

Updated 1,348 days ago

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Connecticut lawmakers debated a proposed addition to the state’s “Red Flag Law,” which would make it easier for family members to get help for their loved ones who may be dangerously using guns.
Brandon Wagshol’s family saw “red flags” on his Facebook, where he posted that he was “into planning a mass murder.”
Norwalk police seized weapons from Wagshol’s father’s house after being tipped off by his family.
His mother, Joanne Kirson, says her son told her that he was 90% done with building a high-capacity firearm when he was arrested.
Under a new proposal to the Red Flag Law, relatives, dating partners and roommates could bypass police and go directly to a judge.
Doctors, clinical social workers and physician’s assistants could do the same.
Those who have lost loved ones due to guns, like Jeremy Stein, say the new laws could have saved lives.
“Had this law been enacted in 1989, my uncle, David Stein, might be alive today,” he says. “And we could have prevented him from taking his own life with his firearm.”
The bill would also make it harder for someone to get their guns back, something that proponents of gun rights like state Rep. Doug Dubitsky say is a problem.
“Aren’t the lives of the abused women that are being disarmed and made vulnerable, aren’t they important too?” he says.
Kirson says the Red Flag Law does not go far enough.
“The system failed him so many times,” Kirson says. “It failed him, it failed me and it failed all of you.”
Wagshol is charged with illegally possessing high-capacity gun magazines. He is also accused of beating his father with a pipe.