After Other States’ Moves, Connecticut Is Still Working on Stricter Gun Law

In January, New York passed the first comprehensive gun legislation in the wake of the killings. On Wednesday, Gov. John W. Hickenlooper of Colorado signed bills mandating sweeping new restrictions on the sales of firearms and ammunition there.

But in Connecticut, which became the epicenter of the debate over guns, legislative leaders have yet to introduce a bill to address gun violence and mental health issues. They continue to meet daily, and now expect introduction around the first week in April.

The result, to some, has been a perplexing process in a state traumatized and galvanized by the killings, where opinion polls show overwhelming support for new gun legislation, and where Democrats control the governor’s mansion and both houses of the General Assembly and thus have the ability to pass whatever they want. But legislators say that given the state’s relatively moderate politics, with a culture of bipartisan lawmaking and a new House speaker who made a commitment that both parties would be involved in writing gun legislation, the process has played out in a largely familiar way.

Some Democrats, including Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, and gun control advocates have expressed frustration with the pace. But the House speaker, Brendan Sharkey, a Democrat presiding over his first session, said he was confident that Democratic and Republican legislators could agree soon on comprehensive gun legislation. And, citing a statement by New York’s governor, Andrew M. Cuomo, that his state’s new limits on ammunition magazines were unworkable and needed to be modified, Mr. Sharkey said Connecticut legislators were wise to take the time to get their legislation right.

“My mantra at the beginning was it is important to act quickly, but it is more important to act intelligently,” Mr. Sharkey said in an interview.

He added, “I’m personally very confident that what we produce will give Connecticut the strongest gun safety legislation in the country when we’re done.”

After the tragedy, Connecticut created a somewhat confusing process, with one commission established by Governor Malloy to research guns, violence and mental health issues and a separate task force set up by the legislature.

Republicans and Democrats on the legislative task force agreed on many elements of a gun-control package but offered separate reports. Both sides called for universal background checks, greater safe-storage requirements and more requirements for buying ammunition. Only Democrats called for expanding the existing assault-weapons ban to cover a broader array of weapons and for a ban on magazines holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

But Democratic and Republican leaders indicated that the fact they were still talking was evidence that those two elements could be part of bipartisan legislation. And Larry Cafero, the House Republican leader, said passing legislation roughly four months after the shootings would be extraordinary given the complexity of the issues.

Colorado’s legislation came eight months after the mass murder in Aurora, Colo., last summer, Mr. Sharkey noted.

Alluding to New York’s experience, Mr. Cafero said, “To be the first out of the blocks and get it wrong is not a success as far as I’m concerned.”

Legislative leaders have largely kept their deliberations private. But one aspect discussed is whether to have multiple bills, with one able to gain broad support and another dealing with issues like assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines that would have a harder time attracting bipartisan agreement. That approach now seems unlikely, people close to the deliberations said.

If there is support for a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines, the next question is whether it should apply just to their sale or also to their possession, meaning that those people who now own them would have to dispose of them. The commission appointed by Mr. Malloy, in an interim report, recommended the ban of the “sale, possession or use” of magazines with more than 10 rounds.

Mr. Cafero last week also sharply criticized the State Police for a briefing about the Sandy Hook case it delivered this month at a law enforcement convention in New Orleans. The Daily News, quoting someone who had attended the convention, reported on details of the crime that have not been disclosed to legislators or the victims’ families. Among the details was that the gunman, Adam Lanza, had compiled a large spreadsheet of mass murders and the weapons used in them.

Mr. Cafero said lawmakers should have all appropriate information as they work on legislation before they finish.

Mr. Malloy echoed Mr. Cafero’s disappointment with the leak, and directed the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney to release additional information on the investigation by next Friday.

But, perhaps indicating some limits to bipartisanship and frustration with the progress made, the governor said in a statement that “the vast majority of people in Connecticut can agree on some simple, common-sense things we can do — right now” and that legislators should by now have all the information they need to proceed.

“What more does Mr. Cafero need to know before he’s finally ready to take action?” Mr. Malloy said.

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2 Conflicting Legislative Agendas Arise From Gun Safety Task Force in Connecticut

Democrats called for an expansion of Connecticut’s assault-weapons ban that would cover a broader array of weapons, ban their sale and make it a felony to possess an assault weapon without applying for a certificate of possession from the state. Democrats also called for a ban on large-capacity magazines holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

Republicans joined Democrats in calling for universal background checks, expanded safe-storage requirements, added requirements to buy ammunition and other measures. They cited 16 areas of agreement. Still, Democrats and Republicans ended up with sharply differing agendas on the most contentious issues, which leaders of the Democratic-controlled General Assembly must now address. The six leaders of the two houses aim to draw up legislation perhaps within the next week.

Democratic and Republican leaders of the gun-violence subcommittee of the Legislature’s Bipartisan Task Force on Gun Violence Prevention and Children’s Safety Tuesday said gun legislation had proved extraordinarily complex and contentious, given a historic outpouring of responses from opponents and supporters of new gun-control measures.

“My experience, having been in the Legislature for 32 years, is the level of broad-based interest in this subject is unprecedented,” said State Senator Martin Looney, co-chairman of the guns subcommittee. He said the volume of contact from residents and the galvanization of public interest was “extraordinary.”

But it was clear that bipartisanship had its limits.

Republicans hailed the committee’s “comprehensive approach to gun safety,” which they said would close loopholes in current law and restrict who can legally possess specific weapons.

But they said that partisan differences remained. Speaking for Republicans on the subcommittee, Representative Craig Miner, co-chairman of the guns subcommittee, said: “We believe it’s not the gun that kills the person. It’s the person that actually kills the person. That sounds kind of cold, but that’s the way it is.”

Gun-control advocates said that it was now up to the Democratic majority, acting in concert with a strong antigun agenda from Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, to act decisively in response to the Dec. 14 shootings that left 26 children and educators dead.

“For Republicans to think that is a response to Sandy Hook is just outrageous,” said Betty Gallo, a lobbyist for gun-control groups, adding that she didn’t understand why, almost three months since the shooting, “the Republican members of the task force brought forward a proposal that doesn’t address the enormity of what happened.”

The lack of consensus in the committee came as Democrats have become increasingly frustrated by the deliberativeness of the process while other states, including New York, have passed major gun legislation. On Feb. 21, Governor Malloy announced an aggressive agenda similar to what emerged from Democrats on the committee.

Last week, Senator Looney and the Senate president pro tempore, Donald Williams, both Democrats, urged action by March 13 — the next day, March 14, will signify the third month since the day of the shootings.

In a letter to colleagues, they wrote: “Other states — New York, Colorado and Maryland — have taken action since the Newtown tragedy. In Connecticut, we must not bow to pressure from those who would delay action as a way of blocking common-sense reforms.”

But Mr. Miner said there was no virtue in moving forward too quickly and added that the response to the New York legislation should serve as a warning to legislators in Connecticut.

“I don’t consider the time to be an issue,” Mr. Miner said. “If you look at some of the laws that have been passed already by our neighbors, some of the recommendations they are trying to recover from. Did they really finish their job when they passed the first bill? I would suggest they didn’t.”

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