Correction: the Connecticut Lottery mass shooting occurred in 1998. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said that the event happened in 1999. (1:12 p.m EST., March 25, 2021)

HARTFORD, Conn. -- After this week's second mass shooting in the U.S., a Connecticut gun-safety group hopes the state takes its current gun laws a step further, and looks to Congress to enact stronger legislation nationally.

Last week in Congress, Connecticut and Maryland lawmakers introduced the Handgun Purchaser Licensing Act, which would set up a federal grant program, to motivate state and local governments to create permit-to-purchase handgun laws.

Jeremy Stein executive director of CT Against Gun Violence, said a 10-year-old state law has curbed gun homicides by 40%, and thinks it's time to expand it to the national level.

"About 50% of the guns used in crimes are coming from states with weak gun laws; states with no universal background checks, that don't have permit-to-purchase laws," Stein asserted. "States that don't have training requirements; that allow homemade 'ghost guns;' unregistered, unlicensed, untraceable guns to be sold."

Last month, the U.S. House passed two bills, House Resolution 8 and House Resolution 1446, to expand background checks on firearm sales.

Stein is unsure if they'll pass, however, since Second-Amendment concerns have been cited in the U.S. Senate for years as reasons not to pass stronger gun laws.

The Connecticut Assembly is considering a bill to strengthen existing law on risk-protection orders or warrants, that could remove firearms from people at risk of harming themselves or others.

Stein noted it includes easing the process to obtain a risk-protection order.

"It's looking to expand who can apply for these types of orders, to make sure that family members, physicians and mental-health providers can also petition a court to get an order, without the necessity of involving law enforcement," Stein explained.

Connecticut's risk-protection order law was the first of its kind in the nation, enacted after the 1998 Connecticut Lottery mass shooting.

Stein added preventing mass shootings remains a top priority, but addressing daily community violence is also at the forefront. His group supports a bill to fund community-based violence-prevention programs.

"Connecticut should follow California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, to form a better overall plan as to how we can finally end gun violence in Connecticut," Stein argued. "And to focus on places like New Haven, Bridgeport, Hartford, Waterbury, where gun violence is most prevalent, and that mostly affects Black and Brown communities."

According to the Center for American Progress, only 10% of Connecticut's population is Black, but more than half of the state's gun-homicide victims are Black.

Both bills are in the Legislature's Public Safety Committee.


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Grassroots organizations are sounding the alarm about Tennessee's new law allowing teachers and other school employees to carry guns.

Gov. Bill Lee signed Senate Bill 1325 Friday and it took effect immediately.

More than 450 children have lost their lives to gun violence in the U.S. this year.

Cathy Barnett, legislative lead for the Tennessee chapter of Moms Demand Action, predicted the new law will not enhance school safety. She noted the community worked to get an extreme-risk protection order passed after the Covenant School shooting but Republicans passed legislation this year blocking local governments from passing their own versions of such protection orders.

"Already, we have seen the largest counties say no, they are not going to implement it," Barnett pointed out. "They trust their law enforcement, they trust that they have SROs already in their schools. They feel like the dangers are just too much."

Barnett added even some smaller counties have said they will not implement it. Supporters of the new Tennessee law argued it will make schools safer.

Becky Hansen, a Covenant School parent who testified at a March 27 House hearing, cried when describing how her 5-year-old son's teacher saved her students, and said giving her a gun would have just made the situation worse.

"Our teacher had the wherewithal, when she realized that what they thought they needed to do for a fire alarm was actually an active shooter, to turn it into a race, to not scare my 5-year-old," Hansen recounted. "There is no way that my sweet teacher could have also held and properly ejected a weapon."

Barnett said more than 70% of the parents and teachers her group surveyed do not want the law. She added in the past 11 years of testifying before committees, some lawmakers still fail to adequately understand gun violence prevention measures.

"They're not listening to the research at all," Barnett contended. "The research shows normally, on the whole, a mass shooter, most of the time has some affiliation with that school in some way. They don't come because it's a 'gun-free zone,' which the Republicans like to say."

She pointed out concerns armed individuals may automatically resort to shooting, potentially harming people unintentionally and noted a student might also gain access to a gun if there are more firearms at schools.


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Well over three-fourths of Americans support universal background checks for gun purchases, but federal law allows unlicensed people to sell guns at gun shows and online without one.

Sixteen states now require background checks for gun sales by licensed and unlicensed sellers but Nebraska is not one of them.

The Biden administration is taking a step to close the gun show loophole. By mid-May, a broader definition of who is a gun dealer, and thus required to conduct background checks, will go into effect.

Melody Vaccaro, executive director of Nebraskans Against Gun Violence, said the broadened definition will not affect true "hobbyists," such as antique gun collectors.

"The main way that it goes between a hobbyist and a gun dealer is if someone is selling guns regularly for money," Vaccaro explained. "If monetization is the driver of the gun sales."

Nearly a dozen different violations make people ineligible to purchase or possess a gun under federal law. And since the federal background check system was initiated in 1998, it has stopped nearly 5 million illegal gun purchases.

Those who oppose expanding background checks believe additional regulations burden law-abiding citizens and do not stop potentially dangerous people from getting firearms.

Vaccaro acknowledged it may be true, but is not a reason to stop trying. She hopes the change will help Nebraskans discover their common ground on this issue.

"Everybody is worried about gun violence. Everybody's worried about mass shootings. Everybody's wondering how we can do better; everybody's wondering that," Vaccaro emphasized. "That's not a political party conversation; that is actually something we all share."

And Vaccaro expects most Nebraskans will welcome an increase in the percentage of gun sales to include a background check.

"It is just so basic; it's so pragmatic," Vaccaro contended. "I really would be surprised if there was authentic pushback from everyday people, who are not lobbyists or directly profiting from the gun industry in some way."

Nebraska law regulates handgun sales by both licensed and unlicensed sellers, but private sellers can sell a long gun without a background check.


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Background checks on those who purchase firearms at gun shows may soon be expanded.

The Justice Department last week issued a directive to close the so-called "gun show loophole." A final rule submitted to the Federal Register changes the definition of firearm sellers, ultimately requiring they obtain a federal firearms license to sell guns at gun shows, flea markets and over the internet.

Miranda Viscoli, co-president of New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence, welcomed the new rule.

"There is no reason why anybody should be able to walk into any gun show in the United States of America, if there's not a background check law at the state level, and be able to purchase firearms, no questions asked," Viscoli contended.

The new rule would classify around 23,000 vendors as licensed firearms dealers, making their gun sales subject to checks. The Biden administration has said the rule does not conflict with the Second Amendment, but two Republican senators have already announced plans to introduce a joint resolution to overturn the rule.

Earlier this year, New Mexico lawmakers approved, and the governor signed, several firearms-related bills. One prohibits guns within 100-feet of polling places during a state election. And Viscoli said another bill could reduce the number of sales at gun shows.

"In New Mexico, and this does pertain to gun shows, we just passed a seven-day hold on the sale of firearms," Viscoli noted. "That's going to make it very difficult for gun shows because they would have to mail those guns to people."

In starting her position in 2013, Viscoli attended gun shows to see how easy or difficult it was to buy guns. Despite telling dealers she had forgotten her driver's license and had no identification, she said she was assured it wouldn't be a problem. Ten years later, she believes the proliferation of guns is out of control.

"It's coming to define who we are both as a state in New Mexico and as a country," Viscoli observed. "I mean, when gun violence is a leading cause of death for young people, I don't know why we're not sitting at the table and figuring, 'What the heck do we do about this?'"


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