Governor Dannel Malloy paid a visit to New London on Monday morning, meeting with Mayor Daryl Finizio and speaking in support of what he describes as his “common sense” gun control proposals.
Malloy issued his proposals last month after saying he felt a bipartisan committee set up to make recommendations on reducing gun violence in the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown had been bogged down by political differences among members. He said the proposals include strengthening the state’s assault weapons ban, limiting the size of magazines to 10 rounds, prohibiting private sales of firearms, and establishing a universal background check system for gun purchases.
Malloy said polls show a broad support for background checks and dismissed those who are protesting the measures at the Connecticut General Assembly as a minority.
“Even a majority of gun owners support what we’ve laid out in these proposals, so what you’re seeing is kind of the fringe of the fringe show up in Hartford today,” said Malloy. “We’re not going to take that person’s weapon away, but we are going to require that they pass a background check to keep that weapon.”
Malloy said the AR-15 assault rifle used in the attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School is currently legal in the state, but would be forbidden under his proposals.
“Even though we have an assault weapons ban, it was drafted in such a way that you could drive a truck through it,” he said. “And what they’re protesting in Hartford today is that we now have a definition that you can’t drive a truck through it. That’s what’s going on.”
Malloy has also visited Stamford and Bridgeport to speak about his gun control proposals. He said state legislators are considering the measures and hoped that they would be passed without delay.
“I’m just trying to keep this hot, on the burner and on the front of the stove,” he said.
