Global Courant
A set of gun control measures goes to the office of Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont
FILE – A bus drives past a sign reading Welcome to Sandy Hook in Newtown, Conn., December 4, 2013. Connecticut lawmakers on Thursday, May 25, 2023 considered the most comprehensive package of gun safety measures since legislation passed after the massacre at the Sandy Hook school in 2012, with proponents noting that the state is not “recklessly backing off” from regulating guns like other states. (AP photo/Jessica Hill, file)
The associated press
HARTFORD, Connecticut — A set of gun control measures was sent to Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s bureau on Saturday following a late-night Senate debate and early morning vote to pass the state’s most comprehensive gun legislation since the laws that followed the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting.
Lamont, a Democrat, plans to sign the measure. He said in a statement that the legislation would “smartly and strategically modernize our firearms safety laws to help prevent a tragedy from happening.”
The amendments would include prohibiting the open carrying of firearms and prohibiting the sale of more than three handguns to a single person within 30 days, with some exceptions for instructors and others.
Other provisions include expanding Connecticut’s current assault weapons ban to include some other similar weapons; stricter penalties for possession of large-capacity magazines; extend safe storage rules to more settings; and adding some domestic violence crimes to the list of disqualifications for having a gun.
The measure passed the Senate 24 to 11, following a House vote of 96 to 51 last week. Democrats control both chambers.
The measure comes as mass murders are occurring at a record rate in the United States.
Nearly half of states passed legislation on guns or school safety this year, but measures vary widely depending on the partisan makeup of legislatures.
Democratic-led states have enacted new laws to restrict semi-automatic weapons and expand background checks and waiting times to purchase guns. Republican-controlled states have supported the right to carry concealed weapons without a permit or for trained personnel to bring guns to school.
In Connecticut, Republican lawmakers have complained that majority Democrats punish law-abiding gun owners, not attack criminals who commit gun violence.
However, Lamont insisted that “the vast majority of Connecticut residents” support the changes.
“They want to live in a community with common sense measures that promote gun safety and prevent harm from hitting our neighborhoods and homes,” he said.
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