Florida shooting spurs calls for stricter gun laws in CT

<p>The mass shooting Wednesday at a Florida high school has led to calls for even stricter gun laws in Connecticut.</p>

News 12 Staff

Feb 15, 2018, 8:41 PM

Updated 2,261 days ago

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The mass shooting Wednesday at a Florida high school has led to calls for even stricter gun laws in Connecticut.
Connecticut already has some of the nation's toughest gun laws, having overhauled them following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December 2012.
On Thursday, Gov. Dannel Malloy reiterated his call for a ban on bump stocks, a device that goes on an AR-15 rifle, like the one used in the Florida and Sandy Hook shootings, and allows it to fire similarly to an automatic gun. The device was also used in last year's massacre at a country music festival in Las Vegas.
"These shootings are coming to your town," Malloy said. "They are coming, in essence, for your children or your moviegoers, or your nightclub users."
Since Sandy Hook, Connecticut has banned 150 gun models, including the AR-15, and background checks were also strengthened.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, is among those pushing for tougher gun control.
"It only happens here not because of coincidence, not because of bad luck, but as a consequence of our inaction," he said.
But Republicans say laws that are already on the books are enough.
"I think effective enforcement of our gun laws, focusing on criminals and dangerous people, mentally ill people that -- where we have the ability to do so -- can reduce violence in our communities," said U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Connecticut lawmakers this year may also look to outlaw so-called "ghost guns," which are partially assembled weapons that don't meet the federal definition of a "gun."
Since 2009, gun deaths in Connecticut have fallen 2 percent, with even bigger drops in New York and Rhode Island. States with more lenient gun laws saw double-digit increases.


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