Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

NRA, Bronin trade attacks over gun-training proposal

  • Politics
  • by Ana Radelat
  • March 6, 2018
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Kyle Constable :: CTMirror.org file photo

Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin

Washington – The National Rifle Association on Tuesday reacted forcefully to Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin’s campaign to end the gun group’s role in Connecticut’s permitting process.

“No organization in the world does more to promote the safe and responsible use of firearms than the NRA,” said spokeswoman Catherine Mortensen. “The NRA’s Basics of Pistol Shooting course is the best training available for anyone seeking to carry a concealed firearm for self-protection. By eliminating the NRA training and standards for Connecticut’s permit holders, Mayor Bronin is putting politics above the safety of Connecticut citizens.”

State law requires Connecticut residents to go through basic safety training certified by the NRA or similar groups before obtaining a firearms permit.

Bronin, who is weighing a run for governor, wants the NRA out of that process. He told state leaders on Monday that he wants to make sure the state is not “inadvertently legitimizing or supporting or endorsing the NRA in any way.”

Late Tuesday, Bronin responded to the NRA’s attack.

“If the NRA had its way, there wouldn’t even be a permitting process in Connecticut,” the mayor said in a statement. “This is an organization that opposes permitting and universal background checks and would leave guns in the hands of domestic abusers.”

Bronin also said, “The idea that the NRA is an organization focused on gun safety is laughable.”

“The NRA’s main mission is to oppose common-sense gun laws and to threaten anyone who challenges the NRA agenda,” he said.

Meanwhile, the NRA says there are 2,833 NRA-certified firearms instructors in Connecticut and one million people who take an NRA firearms safety class nationwide each year

The NRA also said Connecticut is one of 15 states – including Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming, that recognizes NRA training as a valid course of firearms instruction, if training is required for a concealed-carry permit.

On Tuesday, Gov. Dannel Malloy called Bronin’s proposal “a fair idea.”

“Quite frankly I am prepared to have the NRA’s name come out of any legislation we have, Malloy said. “I think we are looking — and have already started this down at our office in Washington – for different people to do that type of training and that type of certification.”

Malloy also weighed in on a proposal to raise the minimum age of long-gun ownership to 21.

“It depends what kind of gun you are talking about,” Malloy said. “I learned how to fire a gun when I was at Boy Scout camp, a .22 rifle. I even got a certificate from the NRA for it.”

However, Malloy said, “That’s very different than training 11-year-old kids on guns of mass destruction.”

“There is a difference between hunting for a pheasant and hunting for people, and I think any regulations that we withdraw or develop should be culturally adjusted, historically adjusted, but should desire to keep people safer,” the governor said.

Reporter Jacqueline Rabe Thomas contributed to this story. 

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ana Radelat Ana has written about politics and policy in Washington, D.C.. for Gannett, Thompson Reuters and UPI. She was a special correspondent for the Miami Herald, and a regular contributor to The New York TImes, Advertising Age and several other publications. She has also worked in broadcast journalism, for CNN and several local NPR stations. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Journalism.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Equity issues dominate hearing on Lamont’s marijuana bill
by Kelan Lyons and Mark Pazniokas

The administration's testimony took up the hearing's first five hours. More than 130 people are signed up to speak.

Connecticut House joins national civil rights campaign over Black hair styles
by Mark Pazniokas

The Connecticut House voted for a bill intended to protect Black women from discrimination over their hair.

CT legislature poised to make early budget pledge to help cities and towns
by Keith M. Phaneuf

The state House is expected to approve more than $100 million in new, annual PILOT grants to municipalities.

Connecticut GOP picks Susan Hatfield as state chair
by Mark Pazniokas

Susan Hatfield, vice chair of the Connecticut Republican Party, will complete the term of the former chair, J.R. Romano.

Senator alleges voter fraud, but no complaint was filed
by Mark Pazniokas

Rob Sampson said a voter in his district was told an absentee ballot already had been cast in her name.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Gas pipeline will threaten water quality, wildlife and wetlands
by Susan Eastwood

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has granted tentative approval of the 401 water quality certification for the Pomfret to Killingly natural gas pipeline. I urge DEEP to deny the 401 certification, as the proposed pipeline would violate the Connecticut’s water quality standards, and the conditions in the draft certification fail to protect our streams, wetlands, and wildlife.

Opinion Connecticut and the other Connecticut. Which will endure?
by Ezra Kaprov

What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘Connecticut’? Possibly, you think of a 43-year-old Puerto Rican man who arrived here with his family following Hurricane Maria. He works full-time as a machinist at the Sikorsky plant, and he coaches a prizefighter on the side.

Opinion COVID-19 increases urgency for legislature to pass medical aid-in-dying law
by Dr. Gary Blick

The COVID-19 crisis has exposed the profound tragedy of loved ones dying alone, in a hospital or nursing home, without the care and comfort of loved ones surrounding them. This pandemic also demonstrates the fragility of life, the limits of modern medicine to relieve suffering, and has magnified the systemic racial disparities in our healthcare system, resulting in higher hospitalization and death rates for people in communities of color. We must eradicate these disparities, so everyone has equal access to the full range of end-of-life care options.

Opinion Three fallacies and the truth about vaccines
by Kerri M. Raissian, Ph.D. and Dr. Jody Terranova

Connecticut’s Public Health Committee recently heard public testimony regarding HB6423 and SB568 --  bills that would remove the religious exemption (the medical exemption would rightfully remain in place) from vaccination in order to attend school.  The religious exemption allows parents to effectively opt their children out of vaccines. In doing so, these families can still send their children to Connecticut’s schools, daycares, colleges, and camps.  This places other children at risk of contracting vaccine-preventable illnesses, and it is imperative the Connecticut legislature remove this exception.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO