New State Laws Taking Effect On Oct. 1

September 15, 2018

The following is a list of just some of the new state laws that take effect on Monday, October 1. Take a moment to look them over, and feel free to call or email me if you have any questions or concerns. Click here for a complete list of new laws taking effect on October 1

AN ACT CONCERNING BUMP STOCKS AND OTHER MEANS OF ENHANCING THE RATE OF FIRE OF A FIREARM, Public Act 18-29. "No person...may sell, offer to sell, otherwise transfer or offer to transfer, purchase, possess, use or manufacture any rate of fire enhancement." This law was passed in response to the Las Vegas massacre on October 1, 2017 (one year to the day before our ban). Using a bump stock, murderer Stephen Paddock fired 1,100 rounds in less than 10 minutes, killing 58 people and injuring 851 others.

AN ACT PROVIDING PROTECTIONS FOR CONSUMERS APPLYING FOR REVERSE MORTGAGES, Public Act 18-38. This new law protects older individuals who may be seeking a 'reverse mortgage' by establishing mandatory, minimum reverse mortgage counseling requirements before any paperwork is signed. More than a million people over age 62 have taken out reverse mortgages in recent years, and they need to know the downsides of these financial products as well as the benefits.

AN ACT CONCERNING SECURITY FREEZES ON CREDIT REPORTS, IDENTITY THEFT PREVENTION SERVICES AND REGULATIONS OF CREDIT RATING AGENCIES, Public Act 18-90. Unfortunately, data breaches by computer hackers are a part of our modern daily life; the state Attorney General's Office investigates two data breach notifications per day on average in Connecticut, and the infamous Equifax data breach impacted not only 148 million Americans, but 1.5 million Connecticut residents as well! This new law prevents credit agencies from charging you a fee if you need a security freeze on your account, and doubles (from one year to two) the amount of time some businesses have to provide you with free credit monitoring if your account with them is hacked.

AN ACT CONCERNING THE SALE OF ELECTRONIC NICOTINE DELIVERY SYSTEMS AND VAPOR PRODUCTS, Public Act 18-109. The sale of electronic cigarettes to minors has become such a national problem that the federal Food & Drug Administration is conducting sting operations around the country to cut into the nearly billion-dollar industry that unfortunately has addicted 10 to 20 percent of high schoolers. We already outlawed the sale of e-cigarettes to minors in Connecticut; this new law makes that even tougher by prohibiting the sale of e-cigarettes through 'self-service' vending machines and by limiting access to e-cigarettes in stores, requiring employees to retrieve them by hand from behind the counter (like regular cigarettes).