Politics & Government

Connecticut's Federal Lawmakers Still Pushing For Gun Control

The state's U.S. senators and representatives attended a hearing Friday in Hartford on the issue.

Members of Connecticut's Congressional delegation are not giving up on gun control and helped organize a public hearing in Hartford last week on the issue. 

The hearing by the U.S. House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, a group that was created by the U.S. after the Newtown shootings, was organized by U.S. Rep. John Larson, the Democrat who represents Connecticut's First Congressional District. 
The hearing is part of a broader effort by the task force to bring a vote on background checks back before Congress, following the measure's devastating narrow defeat in the U.S. Senate last month. 

Mike Thompson, the California Democrat who chairs the task force, said the hearing at Hartford High School was intended to muster support of a bill that again calls on Congress to pass background checks for gun purchases, according to the website Connecticut News Junkie. 

Thompson said he believes the measure will pass this time around. 

“They will vote for it, but they just don’t want to be out in front. So if this bill were brought up, it would pass today,” he told the website. “The fact that we continue to get co-authors provides more leverage for the Senate to bring their amendment up [again].”

Supporters of gun control, including parents of some of the 20 children and 6 educators who were gunned down Dec. 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School, have vowed to continue pressing for more federal controls, including broader background checks. Many were stunned and angered when such a bill died in the Senate last month on five votes. 


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