Selectman Dennis Tracey of Weston, Conn. says his town has received "veiled physical threats" after the local government proposed new gun restrictions.
"We got significant pressure from outside which was really surprising, including outside groups posting our names and personal information on their websites," Tracey said on Jansing & Co Wednesday."We've gotten emails and phone calls at our homes from all over the country...from people who really don't care about the people of our town but really have an agenda to push and are trying to put pressure on us to stop our rational conversation."
Weston is just 20 miles from Newtown, the site of last month's massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Tracey says local police are now involved.
"The other threats we've gotten from people outside of Weston is that they will sue us no matter what ordinance we pass," Tracey said. "That is something we have to consider because we are a small town. We have limited financial resources. And the outside lobbying groups have unlimited financial resources. So we have to be careful what we do in our town to make sure that we're financially responsible."
Tracey helped draft the new gun restriction proposals, including a ban on automatic assault weapons and high capacity magazines, requiring safe and secure storage of weapons when they are not being used, and requiring the registration of all firearms in town.
After the measures were introduced, the NRA was quick to respond with a statement encouraging residents to "remain vigilant" and contact the town selectmen "until they permanently reject this severe encroachment on our Right to Keep and Bear Arms."
Tracey is now recommending discussion be tabled on the proposed laws. He says Weston should wait to see what happens on the state and federal levels first.
"We're going to move forward in a way we think appropriate regardless of the threats," said Tracey.