Connecticut isn't the most anti-gun state in the New England area, but that's not much of a compliment. It's not that they're OK on guns, but that so many of the states around them suck so badly at respecting gun rights.
Like most New England states, they figure those gun laws make them safer, but the truth is that a Connecticut man convicted of murder once is now facing the same charges yet again.
A Connecticut man who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for a 1992 felony murder conviction has been arrested again in connection with a road rage shooting that left a grandfather dead in Bridgeport, according to city police.
Jorge "George" Ortiz, 57, was arrested after a brief foot chase Monday to end a week-long manhunt and charged with murder, criminal possession of a pistol and carrying a pistol without a permit, Bridgeport police said in a statement.
He is accused of gunning down 48-year-old Nelson Batista, a grandfather who recently laid his 25-year-old Air Force airman son to rest, in a 9 a.m. road rage incident on Oct. 12, according to a police affidavit.
Ortiz and Batista were strangers, according to Bridgeport Police Chief Roderick Porter.
"This was a random act," he told reporters at a news briefing announcing the arrest — just hours before Batista's funeral.
Surveillance video shows a man identified as Ortiz following a woman down Park Avenue as the victim turned his SUV down a side street, according to the affidavit. Ortiz allegedly slapped his hands on the side of the car, prompting the driver to stop and get out.
Ortiz allegedly punched the victim first, and they fell to the ground in a scuffle before surveillance video showed them struggling for control of a handgun, according to the affidavit. The city's ShotSpotter program captured at least two gunshots, with the medical examiner later determining one struck Batista in the chest.
The guy spent 30 years inside for murder, and he apparently learned no self-restraint while locked up, because reportedly, he did it again.
But what's relevant here is that he allegedly shot Batista.
As of now, felons can get their gun rights back, at the federal level, only if they apply for them through the Department of Justice. However, not every felon will be considered. Violent felonies like, oh, say...murder will knock someone's chances of getting their gun rights back so far we're into negative probabilities or something.
Yet despite this, Ortiz allegedly had access to a firearm.
Connecticut has universal background checks, which means he didn't just pose as a lawful gun buyer and get a gun from some unsuspecting gun owner. He got a firearm via some kind of illicit means, which is a pretty good indicator that the gun laws in Connecticut work about like we said they'd work.
Again.
At some point, people have got to understand that the laws don't stop criminals, they only impede the law-abiding. Since guns are used for things like self-defense, and are explicitly protected by the Constitution, that's a major freaking problem.
And this isn't some isolated story here. This happens all of the time. The only reason this popped up on my radar is because of Ortiz's criminal history and the fact that he spent three decades behind bars and appears to be headed back after only a few years on the outside.
I guess he'll at least know the routine.