Late Monday night, Connecticut lawmakers agreed to sweeping gun control proposals that are being hailed by some as the toughest in the nation.
The proposals, put forward by a bipartisan legislative task force, come more than three months after the horrific elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn., which killed 20 children and seven adults. The measures are expected to be voted on by both chambers of the Connecticut state legislature Wednesday.
According to the Associated Press, the proposals include:
- A ban on high-capacity magazines of more than 10 rounds;
- A ban on armor-piercing bullets;
- Requiring background checks for all weapon sales, including privately at gun shows;
- An expansion of mental health research in the state;
- An expansion of the state's current assault weapons ban
The new laws would also establish a "dangerous weapon offender registry," which would be the nation's first.
"After the tragedy in Newtown last December, there were some that said the ‘Connecticut Effect’ would wear off," said Connecticut Democratic Senate President Don Williams, a member of the task force, in a statement.
"What they didn’t know is that Democrats and Republicans would come together and work together to put together the toughest and most comprehensive bill in the United States."
The proposals were blasted by different gun-rights groups, who raised questions about the effectiveness of the measures.
In a short piece, the National Review's Greg Pollowitz wrote that it was "too bad the brilliant legislators in Connecticut haven’t figured out how to stop a criminal from driving to New York to buy all the ammunition they want."
Larry Keane, the senior vice president of the National Sports Shooting Foundation, a gun lobby in Newtown, told Business Insider last month that the some of the proposals in question would make manufacturers in the state to consider moving factories to other locations.
"I've had one CEO tell me, verbatim, 'I can move my factory for free, and I might,'" Keane said, refusing to identify the CEO in question. "When Senators say such derogatory things about guns, it's deeply troubling and a bit insulting."
Please follow Politics on Twitter and Facebook.
Join the conversation about this story »
