Not even among parents of the dead was there a consensus Monday on how the General Assembly should respond to the murders of 26 students and staff members last month at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Among the more than 1,300 people who lined up to testify on gun control, legislators invited three to skip the […]
10 Years of Sandy Hook Coverage
The question post-Newtown: How to keep schools safe?
When it comes to security systems at its schools, New Haven officials say cost has never been a factor for their cash-strapped district. It’s not just that they prioritize security: The state pays almost the entire bill to install things like cameras, buzzer systems and locks for every classroom. Security infrastructure is a cost the state […]
Most Connecticut killings are with handguns, not rifles
The shooting deaths of 20 schoolchildren and six of their faculty at Sandy Hook Elementary School have prompted the governor and Connecticut legislature to seek ways to reduce gun violence. This is one of an ongoing series to inform that effort. Two thirds of the murders in Connecticut from 2006 to 2011 – some 454 […]
Connecticut gun sales increasing every year
The shooting deaths of 20 schoolchildren and six of their faculty at Sandy Hook Elementary School have prompted the governor and Connecticut legislature to seek ways to reduce gun violence. This is one of an ongoing series to inform that effort. Connecticut’s people have a lot of guns… …And are acquiring more at an ever-increasing […]
With increasing cries for gun control, Newtown’s legacy takes shape
Washington — Memories of a national tragedy usually dim quickly. But the deaths of 20 first-graders and six teachers in Newtown appear to be doing what other mass shootings have been unable to do — provoke action against gun violence, perhaps in Washington, but more certainly in state capitals across the country. In creating a Cabinet-level panel […]
After Newtown: A rethinking of Connecticut law on outpatient commitment
The first time Jeanne Maillet’s family called the police on her mentally ill relative, they thought he would finally get to a doctor, get treatment and get better. “We were so naïve,” she said. Instead, it was only one step in what Maillet calls five years of hell, trying to get him help in Connecticut’s […]
At the Newtown Bee: Reporting, while grieving
Hours before Newtown changed forever, subscribers to the Newtown Bee received their weekly paper. The front page of the Friday, Dec. 14, edition was a typical one. Its main headline: “Vandalism Leaves Old Headstones Cracked and Damaged.” Three other stories talk about the school system’s financial woes, its above-average performance and a merger of the […]
Connecticut’s complex relationship with guns
One was a Korean War veteran suffering flashbacks. Another was an old man who kicked his neighbors’ trash cans into the street and ranted at passing traffic. Some had spoken of violence against themselves or others in the face of foreclosure, divorce or illness. All had one thing in common. Their firearms were among 2,093 […]
Public tears as governor describes ending parents’ wait
He came close Sunday on CNN. It finally happened Monday afternoon at the State Capitol: Gov. Dannel P. Malloy publicly wept for the first time since the mass murders Friday of 26 students and staff at an elementary school in Newtown. In a press conference, Malloy was asked how it fell to him Friday to […]
Gunman kills 26 students and adults at Newtown school
Officials shared no theories Friday night on what prompted a 20-year-old gunman to kill 26 students and adults at a Newtown elementary school, a national tragedy that left President Obama choked up and wiping away tears as he addressed the deaths from the White House. “I know there is not a parent in America who […]