After an all-night state Senate discussion and early morning vote to adopt the state’s most comprehensive gun legislation since the regulations that followed the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, a package of gun-control measures was on its way to Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont on Saturday.
Democratic governor Ned Lamont intends to sign the bill. The measure, he claimed in a statement, would “modernize our firearm safety laws in a smart and strategic way to help prevent tragedy from happening.”
The amendments, with limited exceptions for instructors and others, would, among other things, outlaw the open carrying of firearms and the sale of more than three pistols to a single individual within a 30-day period.
Other provisions include toughening penalties for owning large-capacity magazines, extending safe-storage regulations to more locations, and adding some domestic violence offenses to the list of offenses that disqualify one from owning a gun. Connecticut has a so-called assault weapon ban that now includes some other similar weapons.
Following a 96-51 House vote last week, the bill was approved by the Senate on a vote of 24-11. In the state, Democrats are in charge of both chambers.
The action is being taken as mass murders reach new heights in the US.
This year, about half of the states passed legislation on guns or school safety, although the laws varied greatly depending on the party composition of the legislatures.
Democratic-led states have passed new legislation to limit semiautomatic weapons, increase background checks, and lengthen the waiting period before purchasing a firearm.
Republican-led states support the ability to carry concealed weapons without a permit or to allow trained employees to bring weapons to schools.
Republicans in Connecticut’s legislature have argued that the state’s majority Democrats are punishing law-abiding gun owners rather than criminals who use firearms in violent crimes.
But Lamont insisted that “the overwhelming majority of Connecticut residents” accept the adjustments.
“They want to live in a community that promotes gun safety and prevents harm from affecting our homes and neighborhoods,” he said.
The Sandy Hook mass shooting on December 14, 2012, claimed the lives of 26 people: 20 students and 6 adults.