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‘Enough is Enough,’ CT marchers tell Washington

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WASHINGTON — The March for Our Lives attracted thousands of students and supporters from Connecticut and hundreds of thousands from across the nation demanding change – not only in the nation’s gun laws but the makeup of Congress. Organized by students after 17 people were killed at a Parkland, Fla., high school last month, it also mobilized activists who have been fighting gun violence since 20 schoolchildren and six educators were slaughtered in Newtown a little more than five years ago. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Politics, "March for Our Lives", Congress, Guilford High School, gun control, gun violence, newtown, protesters

Despite Parkland, gun control push faces wave of opposition in Congress

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WASHINGTON — Despite President Donald Trump’s willingness to support modest tweaks to the nation’s gun laws, Congress may not approve much change as lawmakers remain entrenched in a mostly partisan split over the issue, despite the national debate touched off over the Parkland, Fla., massacre. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Civil and criminal justice, Politics, Washington, arming teachers, assault rifles, bump stocks, Chris Murphy, CPAC

School massacre provokes calls for ‘red flag’ laws like one CT pioneered

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WASHINGTON — The school shooting in Parkland, Fla., has opened a debate on whether more states should do what Connecticut was first to do — pass laws that allow the confiscation of weapons from those who are believed to be a danger to others and themselves. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Civil and criminal justice, Politics, Washington, Donald Trump, Everytown for Gun Safety, Fla, gun violence, Joe Courtney

CT lawmakers, NRA back gun buyer background check bill

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WASHINGTON – Rep. Elizabeth Esty, usually at odds with gun rights groups over firearm legislation, is promoting a bill that the National Rifle Association likes, too. Esty, D-5th District, is a co-sponsor of the U.S. House version of the “Fix NICS Act of 2017,” legislation that aims to prevent individuals like the shooter in Sutherland, Texas, from slipping through the cracks of the federal gun buyer background check system. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Civil and criminal justice, Politics, Washington, Chris Murphy, Elizabeth Esty, gun control, John Cornyn, National Instant Criminal Background Check System

Murphy introduces background-check gun bill as ‘long-haul strategy’

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WASHINGTON — Sen. Chris Murphy on Wednesday reintroduced a background-check gun bill he’s been trying to make law since a gunman killed 20 first graders and six educators in Newtown at the end of 2012. The political climate for the bill is no better now, however, than when the Senate rejected it in 2013 and 2016. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Politics, Washington, Background Check Expansion Act, bump stocks, Chris Murphy, gun control, Las Vegas Columbine, newtown

Newtown activists come to an election-changed Washington

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WASHINGTON — On their first pilgrimage here since the election, relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and other incidents of gun violence and their allies asked President-elect Donald Trump to abandon his hard-line stance against gun control. But chances of that are slim. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Politics, Chris Murphy, Donald Trump, Elizabeth Esty, FBI backgrournd checks, gun control, gun violence, newtown

Blumenthal-Carter contest a quiet race in a stormy election year

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WASHINGTON — While the odds that Sen. Richard Blumenthal will be re-elected are among the highest in this year’s U.S. Senate races, he’s also under constant fire from a Republican opponent, state Rep. Dan Carter, who has laid siege to the popular Democrat. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Politics, Washington, Affordable Care Act, campaign finance, Cook Political Report, Dan Carter, Dannel Malloy, gun control

Murphy, stumping in Ohio for Clinton, Strickland, presses gun control

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WASHINGTON — Sen. Chris Murphy is testing the political effectiveness of his push for stricter gun laws in Ohio, a battleground for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and a state that could help decide control of the Senate. In an odd pairing, Murphy is trying to help elect Ted Strickland, a Democrat who was once one of the fiercest defenders of Second Amendment rights on Capitol Hill. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Civil and criminal justice, Politics, Washington, background checks, Brady Bill, campaigning, Chris Murphy, Donald Trump

Challenger Carter steadily attacks, but Blumenthal remains aloof

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WASHINGTON — The campaign tactics of Sen. Richard Blumenthal and his Republican challenger, state Rep. Dan Carter, are as different as they can be in politics. Blumenthal has largely ignored his challenger, while Carter is waging a death-by-a-thousand-cuts campaign, launching a blizzard of attacks. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Politics, Washington, Affordable Care Act, August Wolf, campaign finance, Dan Carter, Dannel Malloy, Donald Trump