CONNECTICUT, USA — It hasn’t even been 24 hours since a gunman in Maine began terrorizing the community, leaving chaos in his wake. But it didn’t take long for what happened in Maine to spark renewed conversation about guns with some stakeholders here in Connecticut.
“I knew it was going to happen. And when we meet with members of Congress we tell them it may not have happened yet but it will,” remarked Po Murray of the Newtown Action Alliance.
Maine marked the 565th mass shooting of the year according to the Gun Violence Archive. It’s a sobering statistic that runs the risk of sterilizing the issue. Behind each tragedy are names, faces and families with empty chairs at dinner tables. Nobody knows that better than the people of Newtown.
“It’s devastating. It’s retraumatizing for our community. We’re on a repeat cycle,” said Murray.
A cycle that always reignites a tough debate. Gun control versus gun rights.
“Our laws work and if we are going to try to prevent this type of tragedy in this country we need to see other states pass the same laws that we have enacted in Connecticut or we need Congress to do the same thing,” said Jeremy Stein of Connecticut Against Gun Violence. But Republican State Rep.
Holly Cheeseman rebutted, “We can’t legislate against someone who is so deranged or disturbed that if they are determined to commit and act so painful and lethal.”
There’s no debate that Connecticut has among the toughest gun laws in the country including a ban on assault weapons, ghost guns, bump stocks, limits on high capacity magazines and red flag laws just to name a few. The question is do they do what they are intended to?
“Connecticut has always been one of the safest states in the country. It is not a result of our gun laws. There is absolutely nothing on the books in CT that would prevent a mass shooting,” said Sullivan.
There’s also no debate that ‘the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,’ as stated in the United States Constitution.
“We don’t have enough details that anybody should be talking about creating more public policy because we simply don’t know what occurred yet and until law enforcement tells us that anybody who stands up and says we need more of this or less of that it’s simply still too early," said Sullivan.
A vigorous debate about gun laws is often accompanied by a conversation about mental health. Connecticut made historic investments in 2022 but its funding is in danger of drying up in the next fiscal year.
“I think post COVID we’ve seen an explosion with problems with mental health. I think there are a lot of people out there on the edge,” noted Rep. Cheeseman.
“The truth is most people with mental health issues are more likely to be victims than they are perpetrators of violence,” explained Stein.
Connecticut’s Hospitals are also partnering together this weekend to hold voluntary gun buyback events across the state where you can turn in your gun for a gift card.
Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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