The topic of gun control remains painfully relevant as mass shootings consistently dominate headlines across the country. While a lot of the talks have stayed just talk, with little to no difference made in policy, some states are promising more will be done. Following Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s State of the State address detailing her plans, including stricter gun laws, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont on Thursday unveiled a second collection of bills aimed at preventing gun violence. His first proposals were announced on Monday.
According to WABC, the newest bills focus on preventing mass shootings and were unveiled after the horrific shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay, California. The legislation aims to close loopholes in the Connecticut's assault weapons bans, including increasing the minimum age for purchasing all firearms to 21. The previously proposed legislation focused on banning the open carrying of guns in public places.
Additionally, Lamont also wants to add different categories of firearms to the state’s assault weapons ban, which would require owners of those firearms to register them.
"We've shown in Connecticut that we can implement laws that respect the rights of Americans to own guns for their own protection and sportsmanship while also acknowledging that we must take actions to protect public safety," Lamont said. "These proposals continue that fair, commonsense balance."
Lamont is expected to announce a third set of gun control bills in the coming days, which will be presented to the General Assembly in February with the others.
"That sense of anxiety and fear that many people sense - it doesn't do us any good to say we're in one of the safest states in the country ... and people don't feel safe," Lamont said. "Over this last tough few years, the shootings are up. They're up across the country. They're up in our state."
While many applauded the new legislation, Republican lawmakers and gun rights group Connecticut Citizens Defense League criticized the new proposals, claiming they won’t stop criminals from breaking the law.
“The rampant gun crimes in our cities are not perpetrated by lawful gun owners,” Republican state Rep. Craig Fishbein of Wallingford said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. He said the proposed laws were part of Lamont’s “continued push to disarm law-abiding Connecticut residents under the guise of public health.”
According to CT Insider, state officials said Thursday that they do not have a rough estimate for how many weapons exist in the state under the earlier, pre-1994 exemption because later models are not required to be registered with the state. Therefore it will be “tough to enforce” laws on the more than 80,000 military-style weapons that were manufactured between 1994 and 2013. But it needs to be done.
“I’ve seen the devastation that gun violence causes, and I know what it’s like to face tragedy,” said Jackie Hegarty, who survived the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting as a second grader. “Anyone who’s experienced something this traumatic agrees: This cannot continue to happen. No one deserves to lose a loved one, to grieve, to become traumatized.”
Meanwhile, while Connecticut is enforcing a higher age limit, the Texas Department of Public Safety announced that it will no longer enforce a state law that bars adults under age 21 from carrying handguns in public, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Currently, Texas bars most 18- to 20-year-olds from carrying handguns in public, unless they are in the military or have taken out a protective order—one of the few restrictive gun laws that hasn’t been felled by GOP leaders.