The Jan Giegler spin machine is gearing up to distract from her record.
State Rep. Giegler boasted recently to The Ridgefield Press that she achieved a 100% voting record during 2014. A spokesperson for her office told The Ridgefield Press that only about 33% of state legislators had a perfect performance. Ms. Giegler added, “I have always done my best to represent the people of Danbury, New Fairfield and Ridgefield and to make sure their voices are heard at the state Capitol.”
Her voting record suggests otherwise, as the substance of her votes did no service to her constituents.
In 2007 Giegler voted against legislation that would force gun owners to report lost or stolen weapons, which responsible owners would do anyway. She sided with the irresponsible.
Rep. Giegler, the ranking Republican on the House Public Safety Committee, apparently didn’t think the Sandy Hook atrocity rose to the level of a public safety concern, since she voted against the bipartisan law passed after Sandy Hook. Ms. Giegler has made clear that if re-elected in November, she will continue to oppose Gov. Malloy’s sensible and needed gun safety initiatives.
Ms. Giegler’s gun absolutist sensibilities are shared by Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley. Mr. Foley has donated $1,000 to the extremist Connecticut Citizens Defense League (CCDL). In April, on the one-year anniversary of Connecticut’s passage of post-Sandy Hook gun safety reforms, CCDL supporters rallied at the state Capitol to protest the requirement that they register their assault rifles and high capacity magazines. They threatened that unless the law was repealed by May 7, “state-provoked chaos and violence” — CCDL’s terminology — could result. The gun rights absolutists encouraged their supporters to attend the family-friendly rally carrying firearms. Tom Foley was a keynote speaker at the event. He pledged that as governor he will stop any further gun reforms, and that if he had been governor, the legislation would have looked very different.
Do voters really want a governor or legislator who so consistently demonstrate a complete lack of concern for the safety of their constituents? Candidates who condone irresponsible gun ownership and absolutist ideology?
A new voice is needed to represent Connecticut’s 138 State Legislative District, one that supports responsible, safe gun ownership and acts before tragedies like Newtown occur.
A leader is needed to take the next steps to reduce gun violence, and who will oppose — rather than take cues from — the NRA and CCDL playbooks.
What can voters who live in the 138th District do? Vote for gun sense candidate Henry Hall. Mr. Hall, a 30-year resident of Danbury, owns an Internet-based small business. Henry previously had a long career as a software developer for Fortune 500 companies in the insurance, finance, and telecommunications fields. As your representative for the 138th, Henry Hall will make sure that Connecticut has strong public safety measures that protect our families and community. Please visit hall138.com and ridgefielddems.org.
This column is supplied by the Ridgefield Democratic Town Committee.