Advocates and lawmakers say it’s imperative to untangle the issue of mental illness from mass shootings and address the real problem: access to guns.
Mark Barden
Posted inPolitics
Sandy Hook Promise honors GOP leader with high rating from the NRA
WASHINGTON– A Republican congressional leader who gets high grades from the National Rifle Association gained an unlikely spotlight this week — guest of honor at the Sandy Hook Promise annual fundraising gala here Wednesday night.
Posted inPolitics
Barden, Hockley say they won’t run for Esty’s seat
Updated at 5:50 p.m.
WASHINGTON – Sandy Hook Promise founders Nicole Hockley and Mark Barden on Friday said they have decided against running for Rep. Elizabeth Esty’s congressional seat. Meanwhile, former Newtown Rabbi Shaul Praver announced his intention to enter the race.
Posted inPolitics
Esty: I gave abusive staffer good reference to ‘get him out of Washington’
WASHINGTON — Rep. Elizabeth Esty said she wrote a glowing reference letter for former chief of staff Tony Baker with the understanding the would leave Washington, D.C., providing “space” and protection to another former aide, Anna Kain, who has accused Baker of physical and verbal abuse. “My instinct was once I learned about (the abuse) was how to protect her,” Esty, D-5th District, said.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Sandy Hook parents tell Trump there’s no need to arm teachers
WASHINGTON — The parents of two children who lost their lives in the Sandy Hook school shooting told President Donald Trump the nation does not need to arm teachers, but should prevent mass shootings by training teachers to respond when a child displays certain signs of trouble. “Sandy Hook Promise has created something that works,” said Mark Barden, holding up a photo of his slain 6-year-old son Daniel.
Posted inPolitics
Murphy raises gun control – and his profile – at convention
PHILADELPHIA — Sen. Chris Murphy’s impassioned, prime time speech on gun control Wednesday helped the Democratic Party showcase its commitment on the issue and helped raise a profile that has been elevated since he led a filibuster on the Senate floor to press GOP leaders to hold votes on gun legislation.
Posted inPolitics
Newtown father lonely voice as Senate panel blasts Obama gun moves
WASHINGTON – Mark Barden ,who lost his 7-year-old son Daniel in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, was outnumbered but undaunted Wednesday at a Senate hearing on President Obama’s recent moves to tighten gun laws. “I am before you today as an informed, proud American. These modest proposals will go a long way toward not only saving lives, but also improving quality of life,” he said. “And I am before you today as a grieving father who knows firsthand the cost of inaction.”
Posted inPolitics
Obama puts CT accomplishments on national ‘to do’ list
WASHINGTON — In his State of the Union speech, President Obama’s “to do” list was much like Connecticut’s “already done” list. “I’ll keep pushing for progress on the work that still needs doing,” the president said. “Protecting kids from gun violence, equal pay for equal work, paid leave, raising the minimum wage.”
Posted inPolitics
Obama’s action on guns fulfills promise to Newtown families
WASHINGTON — Tearing up as he spoke of the slaying of 20 Newtown first-graders, President Obama made an emotional appeal to the nation for support of his gun-control initiatives on Tuesday, saying, “Every time I think about those kids, it makes me mad.”
Posted inNews
A transcript of Obama’s remarks on gun control
“The United States of America is not the only country on Earth with violent or dangerous people. We are not inherently more prone to violence. But we are the only advanced country on Earth that sees this kind of mass violence erupt with this kind of frequency. It doesn’t happen in other advanced countries. It’s not even close.”
Posted inPolitics
Sandy Hook remembered with prayer, politics and litigation
The second anniversary of the Dec. 14, 2012 massacre of 26 women and children at Sandy Hook Elementary School was marked in Connecticut by litigation, prayer and politics.