Police from Stratford, Bridgeport and Trumbull are supporting a proposed state law that would require anyone openly carrying a handgun to show their permit to police when asked.
Officials said today that the new law will eliminate the gray area that currently allows open carriers to withhold their gun permits if asked to show them by a police officer.
Police say they need to be able to verify that a person openly carrying a gun also has possession of a permit.
Permit holders say being asked to show their permits is a direct challenge to their constitutional rights.
Bridgeport police asked state lawmakers to clarify the state's open carry law back in January after a man refused to show police his gun permit while carrying a gun in a Subway restaurant.