Hartford — A bill expanding who can access juvenile criminal records for the purpose of firearm background checks passed overwhelmingly though Connecticut's House of Representatives on Thursday — though not before a sharp back-and-forth about the state's juvenile justice system.

Rep. Steven Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, said the bill was necessary due to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022, which included enhanced background checks for juveniles seeking to buy guns.

Existing state law limits who can access juvenile records, which are often included as part of these firearm background checks. The proposed bill would allow officials in Connecticut or any other state to access those records for the purpose of background checks for a gun purchase.

That way, Stafstrom said, authorities outside Connecticut would be able to access the proper records "to prevent someone from being able to purchase a firearm in another state who shouldn't be able to have one."

Most of the brief discussion on the House floor, however, didn't concern the bill itself but rather an unsuccessful amendment introduced by Rep. Craig Fishbein, R-Wallingford, that would have cracked down on juvenile crime more broadly.

Under the amendment, authorities would be required to fingerprint all juveniles accused of serious crimes; certain alleged juvenile offenders would be tried in the jurisdiction where their crime occurred, as opposed to where they live; and lower the age at which someone can be charged with "enticing a minor."

"Juvenile crime being an issue in our state, certainly there are other things that we could be doing with regard to juvenile crime," Fishbein said.

In recent years, Republicans have frequently raised juvenile crime as a chief issue facing Connecticut, even as data on the subject remains mixed.

Fishbein's amendment drew a somewhat exasperated response from Stafstrom, who questioned if the amendment was "germane to the underlying bill," noting that the legislation in question was narrowly focused on firearm background checks.

Stafstrom then criticized the amendment on its merits, arguing that finger-printing juveniles was not always necessary, that trying juveniles far from where they live was impractical, and that it was premature to tinker with the law regarding enticing a minor, which is only a few years old.

In the end, Stafstrom said, the amendment was "counterproductive to increasing public safety in our state."

Fishbein then spoke again, defending his proposed measures as addressing "significant problems" within the juvenile justice system.

After the exchange, the amendment was voted down mostly along partisan lines.

The House then proceeded to vote on the broader bill, which passed near-unanimously, with only one lawmaker opposed. It now moves to the state Senate, which has until May 8 to approve it and send it to Gov. Ned Lamont for his signature.