"This is a profoundly moving day for everyone in this room,"Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy said before signing a bill that includes some of the toughest gun laws in the country. Governor Malloy spoke before family members of some of the victims of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. "We have come together in a way few places in the nation have demonstrated the ability to do."
The governor signed into law Thursday sweeping new restrictions on weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines similar to the ones used by the gunman who killed 20 children and six educators in Newton, NBC News and the Associated Press reported.
Connecticut joins states California, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts in having the country's strongest gun control laws, Brian Malte, director of mobilization for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence in Washington.
"This would put Connecticut at the top or near the top of the states with the strongest gun laws," Malte said.
Part of Connecticut's new legislation will add more than 100 firearms to the state's assault weapons ban, creating what officials have called the nation's first dangerous weapon offender registry as well as eligibility rules for buying ammunition. Background checks for all firearms sale will take effect immediately, now that he has signed the new bill.
In its bill, the State of New York restricted magazines to seven bullets and gave owners of higher-capacity magazines a year to sell them elsewhere. Colorado banned ammunition magazines that hold more than 15 rounds.
The House of Representatives and the Senate recently voted in favor of the 139-page bill crafted by leaders from both major parties in the Democratic-controlled General Assembly. Both were bipartisan votes. "I pray today's bill - the most far-reaching gun safety legislation in the country - will prevent other families from ever experiencing the dreadful loss that the 26 Sandy Hook families have felt," said House Majority Leader Joe Aresimowicz. But some lawmakers said they felt the legislation did not do enough to address mental health issues.
Representative Mitch Bolinsky acknowledged the legislation "is not perfect" and he hoped would be "a beginning in addressing critical mental health needs."
