Connecticut Law Tribune reporter Robert Storace, left, speaks to Attorney General William Tong in his Hartford office. Photo by Michael Marciano/ALM

New Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has ambitious goals this year, including a civil rights division within his office, pending legislative approval.

Tong entered office Jan. 9, succeeding two-term Democratic Attorney General George Jepsen. The 45-year-old former chairman of the House Judiciary Committee sat Tuesday with the Connecticut Law Tribune, discussing guns, marijuana legalization and other hot topics. Responses were edited for length and style.

Connecticut Law Tribune: You were a strong gun-control advocate in the Legislature. Will your agency have any role in drafting legislation for more intensive background checks, such as psychiatric background checks?

Tong: That's an important issue to discuss. But we have to be very careful how we approach these issues as it relates to the liberty interest of each individual Connecticut citizen, and how we characterize people. I want to be clear that as we do any of this work, we have to be respectful of people and their background and their history.

I think we are focused on a number of critical issues to stop what is an epidemic of gun violence in this country and, of course, we know the tragedy of gun violence better than most. Because of that, I strongly believe that we, as a state, have a moral commitment and obligation to do more, maybe do more than other states. I'm particularly focused on … safe storage, a ban on ghost guns. and relating to that, a ban on 3-D printed guns.

CLT: What about your background makes you different from past attorneys general?

Tong: I may be the first attorney general in this state born directly to immigrants. I'm certainly the first attorney general of color in the history of our state, and the first Chinese-American attorney general in the history of this country. … What I bring to that is a personal experience that's never been felt in this office.

I think that experience really rests on a deep understanding of what it is to struggle, and to have to make sacrifices as a family. I know deeply and very personally what immigrants go through every day and the tremendous pressure they are under, because of my parents and because of this president and what he is doing to immigrants every day in this country. He has really declared war on America's immigrants, which I regard as an attack on me and my family.

CLT: You oversee one of the biggest practices in Connecticut, with about 200 attorneys. With all the units within your office, what is your management plan?

Tong: My job is to harness the really great intellectual strengths and skills of all of the lawyers in this office, all 200, and to empower them to do their very best in their jobs every day. That's what I think a leader's first job is: to empower the people around you who take on the laboring work of this office and to help them do it better, and to make sure they are supported.

CLT: What will you do to promote openness in government, particularly since some past administrations were not as open with the press and public?

Tong: It's critical to be present, and this comes from being a legislator and chairman of what is widely considered one of … the most important committees in the Legislature, the Judiciary Committee.

It was a constant stream of people and interests and interest groups, both good and bad, that you had to interface with and also play five-dimensional chess with during a legislative session in order to achieve a set of policy goals. You do not do that by hiding in your office and locking the door. I think it's important to be forthright and open with people, and to be available for meetings and to respect open records law like [the Freedom of Information Act], and to demand that of others.

CLT: With marijuana legalization for recreational use looking possible this legislative session, would you be in favor of having restrictions on the sale of the drug to people who, for example, might have a history of psychosis?

Tong: The decision about whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use and the manner in which we do that is the job of the Legislature and the governor, and I'm very careful not to encroach upon their prerogative. My job is to advise them and to represent them as their counsel and, if they do pass such a law, I will defend it 150 percent.

I will let them know where there are problems, if they have any, but let them make the policy decisions.

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