Board Regulations
Governor Dannel P. Malloy may have unknowingly contributed to the problems in reducing the appeal backlog at the Board of Firearms Permit Examiners by his appointment of the new member.
The current board regulations state the following:
Sec. 29-32b-2. Chairman
The Chairman of the Board of Firearms Permit Examiners serves as the presiding officer at meetings of the Board at which he is present. However, with respect to hearings of appeals, if said Chairman (1) is not present or (2) is not an attorney authorized to practice law in Connecticut, then a member of the Board who is both present and authorized to practice law in Connecticut shall act as Chairman of the Board during the hearing of an appeal.
(Effective May 1, 1975)
The fact that the newly appointed board member may NOT be "AUTHORIZED TO PRACTICE LAW IN CONNECTICUT" will prevent him from acting a Chairman during any hearings of appeals.
Our current Governor Dannel P. Malloy or his staff, could have found and appointed an attorney authorized to practice law in Connecticut who could have shared the authority to Chair additional hearings with Attorney Corradino. In the recent past, the board had two attorneys authorized to practice law in CT and made great strides in reducing the backlog.
Only time will tell how this plays out.
But the current research reveals that the new appointment may only continue the problem of holding more hearings to reduce the current backlog.
My hat is off to Chairman/Attorney Joseph Corradino, Secretary T. William Knapp and the other members of the board for their attempts to reduce the current backlog.
Much has changed since 2007.