How and Why to Testify
In this livestream, Brooke Cheney walks viewers through the upcoming Connecticut Judiciary Committee public hearing on March 12, 2025 concerning HB 7042, the Imputation of Firearm Industry Responsibility Act. She explains what the bill seeks to do—hold any person or entity involved in the manufacture, distribution, or sale of firearms liable for crimes committed with those weapons—and why many view it as overbroad and conflicting with the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. Cheney demonstrates how to locate the bill text, read its key provisions, and review existing public testimonies. She then provides a step‑by‑step process for submitting one’s own testimony, including options for anonymous submission, required form fields, and where to upload a written statement or file. The video covers registration for the hearing (both Zoom and in‑person), the March 11 3 PM deadline for guaranteed speaking slots, the random speaking order, 3‑minute time limits, decorum expectations, and practical logistics such as dress code, snacks, and the possibility of being placed at the end of the line if the deadline is missed. Throughout, Cheney intersperses commentary on the bill’s legal flaws, its potential to become a model for federal legislation, and encouragement for citizens—whether gun owners or business owners—to participate. The livestream ends with a call for questions, reminders to share the information, and a brief recap of day‑long attendance tips.
Chapters
Hey everybody, welcome to, uh, this pop-up live on this lovely Monday morning in March. Uh, we are here to talk about the hearing that is going to happen on Wednesday, March 12th, 2025. So I guess I didn't know this was coming, but, uh, I knew this weekend, so, um, Here we go. What is happening here in Connecticut? Well, if you look at this public hearing, which is in our Judiciary Committee, that is going to be on Wednesday, one of the bills that most of the, uh, gun stores are talking about is, uh, HB— uh, which one is it? Um, yeah, HB 7042. As you can see, um, Judiciary does not hear just one thing at a time. They have a full slate of bills that they will be talking about. So here's my plan, Stan. We are going to talk about what is this thing that we're going to be doing on Wednesday. How does it work? How do you get involved? I'm going to do super high level as best that I can. I'm in my classroom— or not in my classroom, so, um, the visuals may be a little bit wonky, but here's the deal. Back in 2011, someone said, hey Brooke, would you testify? I'm like, what do you mean would I testify? About what? I'm already saved, praise the Lord. No, um, it's not that kind of testimony, although those are cool. And basically what it was is you read the bill, you make your opinion on the bill, and then you make your opinion known. And that really is what testifying is. Hey Moo, nice to see you, sir. Um, oh yeah, so there, there's that. Sorry, because I know there's on StreamYard and YouTube and all of that fun stuff, so the people don't— on YouTube don't think I'm— or whatever, Facebook— think that I'm crazy. So you read the bill, you make your decision, you submit your testimony. It's really that simple. And here's the thing, this particular bill is trying to make everyone that touches any part of any firearm liable for any bad thing that occurs with said firearm. And I'm a child of the '80s, and we had MAD, and they tried to sue liquor companies, and the government's like, no, we do not make the manufacturers responsible for the actions of the stuff that was created. Because if I'm a machinist making a spring that happens to go into a firearm This bill essentially wants to make me liable for something bad that someone does. Now testify. Um, we need to get to the table. So sorry. Hey Abigail, how are you? So find out what the bill is, then read the bill, make your opinion, write it down. So the bill, like I said, that everyone's going to be talking about, or a large percentage of people are going to be talking about, is that 7042 concerning imputation of firearm Industry Responsibility Act. Now here's the other thing to know about these things: the name of the bill rarely gives you any clue as to what is in the bill. So I'm gonna see if I click on this, because y'all should see this, if I click on that, will it change what you guys get to see? Oh look, and it does! I'm so excited. Sorry, first time doing this for my laptop, so bear with the technicality of this all. So you click on it, shows you that the year in session 2025, shows you, um, the permit of filing a civil action against firearm industry member who fails to exercise reasonable control over firearm industry products, which is a bunch of hooey right there. New today, so they're color-coded, right? So this is black, this is 5 days or older. Text of bill Before we click on that, I'm just going to roll down here a little bit so you all get to see. It shows that a public hearing has been scheduled on 3/12, and that on the 20th of February is when someone said, hey, we should put this to, um, put this to the— actually listen to it, right? Because they have a choice as to whether they're going to listen to this stuff or not. So when you click on raised bill document, here is the actual wording that they are talking about. This is the stuff that they want to add or change, and sometimes it'll be nice and obvious where they say new effective October 1st, 2025, um, as used in this section and sections 2 and 3 of this act. They first define what an industry member means firearm industry product. And it's a very broad stroke in which they are doing this. And as you scroll down the 8 pages of this, reasonable control means procedure, acts, and practices that are designed to implement, enforce, to do all of the following. And I'm not going to read through the whole thing. I just want to give you a high level because I don't have that much time today. So So there is what the bill looks like, and you have fun reading through there. Now, next thing I want to show you on this page is public hearing testimony. So if you click on public hearing testimony, you will see that other people have already sent in their testimony. And yes, when you submit your testimony, it's going to have your name And it's going to say support or oppose. As you can see here, uh, Michelle opposes, Thomas opposes, Abigail opposes, Anna opposes. And here's the fun part, is that if you've never done this before, you can click on their name and see what they wrote. So, I oppose this bill because it makes the exact same sense as holding a car manufacturer accountable for people committing crimes with their vehicles. By the way, it is also a violation of existing federal law, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, passed by Congress in 2005. The state does not supersede the federal government. And as much as that is true, the states will do lots of things that supersede the federal government. Now, if you don't want your name known, you can actually do this as anonymous. So is ridiculous, but I expect that from Blumenthal, Murphy, and Lamont. We need to put an end to the good old boys club in Hartford. So here is the challenge with the person who was anonymous, uh, Blumenthal and Murphy actually have nothing to do with this bill, as this bill is at our state level, not at our federal level. And Blumenthal and Murphy are the ones who are going to talk at the federal level. Now here's the other fun part, and when I say fun, this might be my sarcastic voice, is that Connecticut is absolutely a proving ground for the gun bills that they can get through, because Blumenthal and Murphy will take this if it gets passed here in Connecticut, and they will say, oh, absolutely, we will figure this all out. And they will decide that they should take whatever we do here in Connecticut and then put it at the federal level. So Blumenthal and Murphy will matter. Hello, Miss Vanessa Kitty, long time no see. I see you over on Hillbilly from time to time. Um, but, uh, let's see. Huh, well, I'm, I'm glad you were taking a leadership course and we get to distract you. It's going to be short, Abigail, I promise I won't keep you here forever. So, um, back to what you're gonna do. You can go and look through here and find stuff, and you can literally cut and paste any of these that maybe make sense to you or that you like. Or after you've read the bill and had your own opinion on it, you can actually submit your public, uh, opinion. And I have to go to where that tells me to do that. I'm actually going to go back to my original post because I don't know how to get you here. Oh, you know what, I'm going to put this link in the comments. Hello, Tim. Um, ooh, I don't know, that's going to be a really ugly link. We'll see if it'll actually go up there. So just dropped in the comments what the, uh, how to get to submitting public testimony. Uh, it's this simple. Um, not optional, but like it tells you right up here, if you want to use anonymous for the first and last name, if you don't want people to know your name because everyone's afraid about being on the list, right? Fill this in. Title, whether you support, oppose, hearing date. Like we just told you, this is going to be on the 12th at 10 AM, so pick that. You're going to click whether you're supporting or opposing, and then you can, um, put the bill numbers in here, I guess. And then, oh, you can type in your testimony. Or if it's going to be short and sweet or something along those lines, or you can go ahead and write it ahead of time and just upload the file. So it is that simple to have your testimony and your voice heard. It does not have to take forever and a day. It can be short and sweet like some of the testimonies that I already showed you, and that's all these people did. To submit their testimony. So just like that, this is how you do it. Like I said, feel free to go in and go ahead and pick any of these that help you. Oppose, oppose, oppose. We are trying to get a lot of people in here to do this. Moms Demand Action are doing the same thing. Patrick Collins, that's funny. I know a guy named Patrick Collins, but he's not in Connecticut. So, um, you can make it as simple as this: I oppose this bill in its entirety. The criminals will love this bill if it passes, right? Because one of the challenges with this particular bill is that it actually doesn't help stop any of the criminals, which is one of the reasons why I go up and talk all the time. So with that, super sweet, short, easy, right? Um, if you're going to go and do it in person like I do. I forgot that part. I'm like, oh look, we're done. No, wait, maybe 5 more minutes of this. So let me see. Like I said, it's a little more challenging for me to do it here. Um, I know, go to the original one, click on the, um, who's wants it. All right, let's see. Get involved, register to speak via Zoom or in person. So I click on that link, and again, I'll put this ugly link in the comments so y'all can just click on that. Hold on, I got a little here, a little there. Oh wait, you didn't see that because I wasn't screen sharing, so hold please. Um, the ugly link that I just put in there will bring you to this page, and when you are here, all you do is scroll down. It tells you when it is, March 12th, 10 AM, Room 2C of the legislative building. And you can watch this on YouTube live, and you must fill out this registration by 3 PM tomorrow, March 11th, which is Tuesday. Now here's the thing, if you are like me and you're watching this past this time deadline It's okay, you can still show up in person and put your name at the end of the list of those who are testifying. And here's how that goes. You may or may not be heard, it depends on how long the day goes, all of that. So ideally, share this with your friends, let people know, um, because if you miss the 3 PM cutoff, you can possibly still get put into the end of the line. And if you are not sure if you can make it or not, sign up and then submit testimony anyway, even if you don't make it there in person. You can do it live in person, or you can do it via Zoom. Oh, look, all my information is still stuck in here. Well, anyway, there it is. Um, fill out all your info and answer all the questions. And once you submit this they will send— just give you a closing thing that says thanks for registering, and everybody will get a Zoom link regardless of whether or not you're going to be in person or on Zoom. So I will be there Wednesday, March 12th, at the legislative building bright and early in the morning because I want a parking spot. So there is that. How will Wednesday go? The way it works is there is a random number generator that creates what the speaking order is. Public officials get to go first. Everybody has 3 minutes to testify. So if you're going to write testimony to show up in person, understand that's basically 1 page for most people of 12-point font and that usually will fill up a 3-minute, um, conversation. And then if you're asked questions, then you will have more than 3 minutes. But the idea is to be as clear and concise and get your points across. Now, depending on the speaking order, what usually happens is if I am in the beginning, I will most likely stick to whatever my testimony is that I pre-wrote prior to getting there. If I'm towards the end, what I usually will do is I'll be listening for all the questions or comments from our senators and our representatives here in Connecticut. And sometimes my testimony is submitted in writing, the one that I wrote, but then the one that I say is going to be answering the questions that people have asked if I can. So The next thing is, yeah, you might be waiting all day. You may not testify till 10, 11 o'clock at night. Um, and judiciary is very good. They will actually stay there until the last person testifies. That's why I'm like, if you miss the cutoff of 3 PM tomorrow, you may still get added on to the end, but maybe not. So there is that. Understand, dress professional, don't be a jerk. You're not allowed signs or props or anything like that. You're allowed the piece of paper that you're going to read off of, and there's some things that have changed as far as how you submit testimony. But right now, you get there, you hurry up and wait, you listen to everybody. No clapping, no cheering, none of those things. Courtroom, uh, behavior is kind of what you should think of. And there will be times when people are just being straight-up nasty, and there'll be times when people are being straight-up just ridiculous. And you may get 3 minutes and you're done. There's a timer that will go off. You need to wrap it up when you hear the timer and say thank you for your time. The people that are there— the other thing that I thought was— I was frustrated by the first time is judiciary has has a lot of members on it. And what happens during the course of the day is that people that are on the Judiciary Committee will be coming and going. And people would get all bent out of shape, like, why don't they want to hear everything everyone has to say? And what people don't understand is the folks that are on Judiciary are also on multiple other panels, and so they're trying to play hopscotch around all of the other requirements they have. Because the state capital does not work so that each one of those people can actually sit there for the full day. So when you see people giving testimony and it looks like the other people are not paying attention and they're on their phones or something, understand that they're probably putting out fires while they're trying to be as present as they can. So judiciary is really good as far as, like I said, they actually listen to what you have to say. But that being said, and talking about putting out fires and all of that, I have an appointment in about 5 minutes that I have to get to. I want to thank all of my students who were willing to reschedule their Wednesday classes. So I will be at the Capitol all day. If you're gonna be there, let me know in the comments. If you have questions that I did not answer in this video, please let me know in the comments, and perhaps I will come on later tonight and and perhaps show you some of the testimony that I'm probably going to write, because I've already written 2 or 3 of them. I just have to hone them in for today, so on Wednesday. And, uh, yeah, it doesn't matter if you live here in Connecticut or not, you can actually still write in and submit testimony as to what you think about the bill and why you think it's good or bad. And you don't have to be a gun owner to not like this bill. If you were a business owner you should not like this bill. So there is that. Um, for those of you who popped on and said hi, um, Vanessa Kitty, uh, Abigail, I think I saw Foss. I think that's every— oh, and Moo. Sorry, don't want to forget Moo. Um, thanks for saying hi. And like I said, if you're watching the replay, by all means, questions you have, let me know. Short version: plan on being there all stinking day. Like from 10 AM until 10 PM. Bring snacks— the cafeteria closes after 5— or have your Uber Eats up and running. Comfortable shoes, professional clothing. Um, let's see what else. Be polite, be kind, be nice, and listen to both sides of the conversation. Understand you're going to hear stuff you don't like. Don't boo or hiss. You're going to hear stuff that you do like. Don't necessarily boo or hiss that either, or celebrate too hard. Um, hello Tara, how are you? And yeah, so that's kind of it for tonight— this morning so far. Like I said, leave comments, uh, additional questions. I will answer as soon as I can. All right, thanks for popping in, guys. Uh, hit the like button for me, and I will see you later, chances are.
