New gun laws passed as Connecticut responds to school shooting

Following hours of respectful and at times sombre debate, the House and the Senate voted in favour of the 139-page Bill crafted by leaders from both major parties in the Democratic-controlled General Assembly. The Bill was due to be signed by Democratic Governor Dannel P Malloy.

Some of the measures take effect right away. Those include expansion of the state’s assault weapons ban, background checks for all firearms sales and a ban on the sale or purchase of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.

The Bill also addresses mental health and school security measures.

Connecticut, where gun manufacturing dates back to the war for independence, has wrestled with the issue of gun safety since 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown with a high-powered rifle legally purchased by his mother, whom he killed as well.

The massacre reignited a national debate on gun control, and President Barack Obama has made gun safety one of the defining issues of his second term, which started a month after the shooting.

His proposed gun control measures have largely stalled in
Congress, however, and Mr Obama has planned a trip to Connecticut on Monday to increase pressure on lawmakers in Washington.

Mr Obama visited Colorado on Wednesday and repeated his call for universal background checks for gun buyers – a measure that has better chances of winning enough support in Congress than an assault weapons ban or limits on large-capacity ammunition magazines.

Mr Obama’s visit was heavy with political symbolism because Colorado, which has seen two of the worst mass shootings in US history – at Columbine school in 1999 and at a cinema last year, recently expanded gun control laws despite being a western, largely rural state where gun ownership is a cherished right. It also expanded background checks for gun purchases and placed restrictions on ammunition magazines.

The powerful National Rifle Association gun lobby maintains, however, that more guns keep people safer and have succeeded in blocking many efforts to impose stricter gun controls.

And several county sheriffs in Colorado have vowed not to enforce the new gun restrictions.