Conn. moves cautiously on guns in Newtown’s wake

• Conn. Gov. Dannel Malloy

Conn. Gov. Dannel Malloy

Talk about it

HARTFORD, Conn. — A month after the Newtown school tragedy, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is moving cautiously on gun control in Connecticut, a relatively liberal Northeastern state that nevertheless has a strong gun culture and is home to some of the nation’s best-known firearm makers.

Gun control advocates and their allies in the state General Assembly want to pass new restrictions on weapons while passions are still high over the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting rampage Dec. 14 that left 20 children and six women dead. But they are bracing for strong opposition.

Gun owners have packed statehouse hearings in recent years to oppose measures that would tighten the state’s gun laws. And gun manufacturers such as Colt Manufacturing Co., which traces its history to a Hartford factory that Samuel Colt opened in 1855, have threatened in the past to leave Connecticut, taking hundreds of jobs with them, if certain requirements became law.

Malloy, a Democrat, became choked up when he mentioned Newtown in his State of the State Address on Wednesday, saying: “Let us do everything in our power to ensure that Connecticut never again suffers such a loss, that we take real steps to make our kids and our communities safer.”

He offered no specific proposals, instead noting that an advisory panel he set up last week will issue recommendations in March on gun control, mental health treatment and other issues.

Tags: gun control, news, updates, guns, shooting