WASHINGTON – Once again there’s been a mass shooting, at another school no less, and Washington once again has become the center of the debate on how to respond to these continuing massacres. But few expect any action.
Newtown
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Newtown tragedy creates new political movement
About 400 members of Moms Demand Action, a gun control group that was formed the day after the Dec. 14, 2012, Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, say they are interested in running for office, and many may do so next year.
Posted inJustice, Politics
CT lawmakers, NRA back gun buyer background check bill
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.
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Murphy introduces background-check gun bill as ‘long-haul strategy’
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.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Murphy calls fellow lawmakers ‘cowards’ on gun control after Las Vegas shooting
Updated at 7:30 p.m.
Connecticut Democrats were among the first to renew calls for Congress to act on gun control after a mass shooting in Las Vegas late Sunday left at least 59 dead and more than 500 wounded.
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Murphy tweets photos of gun violence victims as Trump speaks to NRA
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s appearance at the National Rifle Association’s national convention provoked Sen. Chris Murphy to launch a tweetstorm Friday urging people to turn off the president’s speech and reflect on the victims of gun violence instead.
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Newtown activists come to an election-changed Washington
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.
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Capitol Hill vigil for Sandy Hook victims unites activists
The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting has been a catalyst for mobilizing family members of gun violence victims, and its anniversary has become the day to gather to support each other.
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Sandy Hook activist: Trump win puts us in ‘a defensive stance’
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s election to the White House has ushered in a political reality, putting gun control advocates on the defensive as the National Rifle Association proclaims “this is our time” to weaken or eliminate gun regulations.
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Blumenthal-Carter contest a quiet race in a stormy election year
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.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Murphy, stumping in Ohio for Clinton, Strickland, presses gun control
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.
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Challenger Carter steadily attacks, but Blumenthal remains aloof
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.
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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 inJustice, Politics
Orlando victims look to Sandy Hook lawsuit against gun maker
WASHINGTON — Families of those massacred in an Orlando nightclub are weighing whether to follow the Sandy Hook families that have filed a lawsuit against makers of assault rifles like the one Adam Lanza used to kill 20 first graders and six adults.
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Sandy Hook decision focuses attention on gun liability law
WASHINGTON — A Connecticut state judge’s decision Thursday allowing a lawsuit to go forward against the maker of the Bushmaster rifle used in the Sandy Hook killings focused attention on a law that Connecticut lawmakers hope to repeal and that is now an issue in the Democratic presidential primary.