Connecticut lawmakers will vote April 3 on new gun legislation that calls for new restrictions on guns and ammunition magazines, new school security measures and additional mental health provisions.
Democratic and Republican leaders in the state General Assembly applauded the bill, and indicated it is likely to pass when voted on.
The bill includes universal background checks on firearm sales, expanded bans on assault weapons and the sale of large capacity magazines and the creation of a dangerous weapon offender registry, among other provisions.
An additional 100 gun models would be added to the list of banned assault weapons and the sale of ammunition magazines would be limited to those that can hold 10 or fewer rounds.
“I have been clear for weeks that a ban on the possession and sale of high capacity magazines is an important part of our effort to prevent gun violence ”“ simply banning their sale moving forward would not be an effective solution,” Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said in a statement April 1. “We cannot lose sight of our ultimate goal ”“ improving public safety for all of our residents, including our children.”
A bipartisan task force comprising three working groups of state legislators drafted the bill.
If the bill is passed, an official at the National Shooting Sports Foundation warned that Connecticut’s gun manufacturing industry will be “history.” The gun advocacy group, which is based in Newtown and counts nearly every major U.S. gun manufacturer among its members, opposes the legislation.
“The irony, of course, is that if gun-control legislation in Connecticut passes, the gun industry in Connecticut could become just that ”“ history,” said Larry Keane, NSSF senior vice president, in an April 1 blog post. “If pending bills in the Connecticut General Assembly are passed, there will (be) other vacant firearm factories in the state ”“ and plenty of laid off former manufacturing employees who used to work in them. They all would make great monuments to the historic industry that Connecticut”™s lawmakers turned their backs on, all in the name of politics.”
