Politics & Government

Connecticut Delegation, Newtown Families Join Obama Push for Passage of Federal Gun Control Legislation

Connecticut lawmakers and families hope for assault weapons, high-capacity magazine ban but universal background checks may have best chance of passage.

This story was posted by Ronald DeRosa. It was reported and written by John Fitts and Kaitlin McCallum.

When U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty (CT-5) spoke to Newtown parents at ‘Moms Take the Hill Day’ on March 13, she said, “Those children deserve a voice and a vote in the U.S. Senate, a voice and a vote in the U.S. House. And with your help we’ll get it done.” 

Those children are the 20 first-graders killed in the Sandy Hook shooting in December. And while much of Congress has moved on to the myriad bills and priorities of federal government, Esty, who represents Newtown, and the rest of Connecticut’s congressional delegation, has remained faithful to the memory of the 26 victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School and to the cause of strengthening federal gun control legislation. 

The plan, which President Barack Obama is expected to push in West Hartford Monday, includes a long list of changes, some as executive orders and other as federal legislation. 

Obama is advocating universal background checks for all gun sales, limiting magazines to a 10-round capacity, reinstating the assault weapons ban, providing money to add more resource officers and counselors to schools, increasing insurance coverage for mental health and funding mental health programs for young people and strengthening punishments for gun trafficking. See a complete list here from the New York Times. 

But what actually stands to get approved remains to be seen. Numerous bills have been raised in Washington, each targeting an issue – e.g. universal background checks, limits on magazines, assault weapons ban. One of the few that has gained traction is a proposal to expand background checks for gun owners, such as including gun shows and Internet sales.

"I'm still hopeful that what I call the sweet spot -- background checks -- can succeed," U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told the Associated Press Sunday. "We're working hard there."

Members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation are hopeful the legislation will pass – and quickly. “I am increasingly hopeful, especially after the bill from Connecticut and the new law -- the strongest in the country -- that we are closer than ever before," U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-CT, said during a recent gun control rally, according to a CT Post article

Blumenthal added that the voices of victims’ families, ordinary citizens and President Obama have combined to give them about 60 votes but support may be slipping. 

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-CT, who has loudly championed the gun control bill and criticized NRA response to the Newtown tragedy, predicted the lobbying organization would push for a filibuster to delay the bill. Still, he said at the rally, he believes Republicans will support it if it gets to the floor. 

"A bill to pass universal background checks is within reach — and that would be a huge step forward," Esty said Monday. 

Members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation and several Newtown families have also worked hard to advocate for gun control laws and several intend to talk to other lawmakers in Washington this week. 

“The universal background check is very important,” Mark Barden, whose son Daniel was killed, told 60 minutes Sunday night. “And to that point, I think Connecticut has done a wonderful job. They've worked very hard and they have passed almost everything that we were hoping they would. And they have done it in a bipartisan way, which I think is a great message to send out to the other states and to the federal government as they begin this process.”

He and several other family members affected by the shootings are part of a group called Sandy Hook Promise, which was heavily involved in talking to Connecticut state legislators and is now is in the process of meeting with members of Congress. Bill Sherlach, who lost his wife Mary, a school psychologist, on that day, doesn’t buy the argument that magazine sizes don’t matter. He said when the shooter changed it allowed 11 kids to escape.

“It's just a simple arithmetic,” he said on the show, “If you have to change magazines 15 times instead of five times, you have three times as many incidents as where something could jam. Something could be bobbled. You just increase the time for intervention. You increase the timeframe where kids can get out. And there's 11 kids out there today that are still running around on the playground pretty much now at lunchtime.”

Barden told the show that the two seconds to change referenced by advocates is in a controlled situation, he added.

Even if the federal legislation is weakened, the Newtown families say they aren’t going anywhere and will keep fighting. 

“. . .  it feels like it just happened a moment ago,”  Francine Wheeler told 60 Minutes, “and yet it's been years since I've seen my son. OK? So we're just-- we're not going anywhere. We're here. And we're going to be here.” 

Nicole Hockley, who lost her son Dylan, added to the show’s host, “For many of us, coming up to the four-month anniversary, we're only just starting to find our voices and to be able to come out of that initial state of shock, to be able to do something actively ourselves. So we — we are not going anywhere. We are gaining momentum now to prepare for this marathon.”

Follow Patch for more updates and articles on President Obama's visit to West Hartford. Follow @WHartfordPatch on Twitter and use #ObamaWH and Instagram @whitehouse to join the conversation. 


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