RYAN FAZIO’S FRIENDS PUT CT ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN IN SUPREME COURT PERIL
Ian Clarke
July 7, 2026
For Immediate Release
Contact: Ian Clarke
RYAN FAZIO’S FRIENDS PUT CT ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN IN SUPREME COURT PERIL
HARTFORD, CT – Last week, the same gun lobby Ryan Fazio has spent his career backing got the news they were looking for: the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear their attack on Connecticut’s ban on assault weapons.
The Connecticut Citizens Defense League is spearheading a lawsuit, Grant v. Higgins, that would roll back the commonsense gun safety laws Connecticut passed after Sandy Hook. For years, the CCDL has worked to advance attacks on every commonsense gun safety policy saving lives in CT, and they’ve backed anti-gun safety candidates in several elections.
The CCDL has never had an ally like Ryan Fazio on its team.
In 2018, the CCDL endorsed GOP nominee Bob Stefanowski’s primary opponent before backing him. In 2022, Stefanowski did not receive their endorsement after attempting to take a more moderate turn on gun safety policy.
Meanwhile, the CCDL gave Fazio its top “endorsed” rating – a designation reserved for “candidates with a 100% voting record with CCDL,” as opposed to merely “Pro2A.”
In return, he’s done more than just accept their endorsement.
Fazio happily embraced the CCDL by attending their annual dinner in April, smiling in front of their “Wall of Guns.”
He went on an extreme pro-gun podcast to brag about his anti-gun safety voting record and call Connecticut’s gun safety regulations “beyond the pale,” while carefully refraining from naming specific laws he would overturn.
On a more recent episode, that podcast’s host gushed in response to Fazio’s nomination: “I am the most excited to go to the voting booth this year than I have been in probably about 15 years,” she said, because “this ballot has got real constitutional conservatives” instead of “RINOs.”
Fazio most recently sided with the CCDL again by fighting to block a ban on firearms manufactured to easily convert into illegal fully automatic machine guns. That means he already voted to have more automatic weapons in Connecticut this year.
Now, the CCDL has successfully put Donald Trump’s Supreme Court in prime position to destroy Connecticut’s most important post-Sandy Hook gun safety protections.
While Governor Ned Lamont, Attorney General William Tong, and Connecticut Democrats have defended the laws that keep weapons of war out of our schools, streets, and communities, Fazio clearly sees those protections as obstacles to be torn down.
Statement from CT Dems Spokesperson Ian Clarke:
“With this case before the Supreme Court, the threat Ryan Fazio and his friends pose to our assault weapons ban is no longer abstract. The CCDL gave Ryan a gold star because he genuinely shares their desire to override the will of the voters and tear up our commonsense gun safety laws.
“Fazio gladly embraced the CCDL as they worked to get conservative justices to shred Connecticut’s assault weapons ban. It’s safe to assume he supports that effort – he just won’t say it out loud because he knows this is yet another issue where he is radically out of step with Connecticut voters.”