Community Corner

Gun Control Bill Will Be Strictest In Nation

Despite protest it appears bill will be passed by legislature.


With Connecticut lawmakers expected to pass gun control legislation today, April 3, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has indicated he’ll sign the reforms, gun sales in the state are spiking and opponents of gun control are vowing they’ll challenge the new laws.

President Obama, meanwhile, has scheduled a visit to the campus of the University of Hartford in West Hartford on Monday to push again for national gun control laws. Connecticut’s General Assembly is expected today to pass the measures, hammered out by a bipartisan task force on gun violence and school security following the shootings in Newtown on Dec. 14 that killed 20 children and six women at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The proposals include a ban on high capacity gun magazine and assault-style weapons, as well as the creation of a registry for gun owners, The state Senate is expected to debate the measures at 11 a.m., today and then pass them. Gov. Malloy said he will sign the proposals into law on Thursday and they will take effect immediately, the Hartford Courant reports.

News of the vote on gun control is already sparking reaction across the state. At Hoffman’s Gun Shop in Newington there was a line of 50 people yesterday at the store trying to buy weapons in advance of the new laws, Bloomberg News reports. While gun lobbyists are admitting they don’t have the votes to defeat the proposals, they have vowed to be at the Capitol today anyway to voice their opposition.

Other gun lobbyists are promising to mount a legal challenge once the laws are passed, according to the blog Capitol Watch. Malloy on Wednesday said the nation’s eyes are on Connecticut and the state needs to set a national example on gun control.

"This is a good moment," the Connecticut Mirror quotes Malloy. "We have a bipartisan package that moves the ball down the field quite a distance. I think it's already being heralded as a demonstration to the rest of the country of what can be done when people work together and put aside some of their differences."


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