Thread: State-by-state gun control developments

After Newtown, states slow to embrace new gun laws

By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News

Months after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, new state-level restrictions on guns have been slow in coming, and they’ve mostly been concentrated in a handful of states that already have tough gun laws.


Follow @NBCNewsUS

Meanwhile, lawmakers in at least a half-dozen other states have gone the other way, proposing and in some instances passing bills that would expand where and when a person can be in possession of a firearm.

But for residents in the vast majority of states, gun ownership looks unlikely to change much absent federal legislation.

A person can still buy a pistol at a Nevada gun show without a background check or carry a rifle inside the New Hampshire state house, just as he or she could before Adam Lanza brought a Bushmaster .223 rifle into a Newtown, Conn., elementary school and opened fire.

“There has been activity in other states that one might not ordinarily think of -- Colorado, for example,” said Jon Vernick, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research. But there remain “the Idahos of the world, where really little has changed since Newtown.”

Gun-control advocates had high hopes that the Newtown tragedy would serve as a galvanizing moment for the country. Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said at the time that he hoped it would be a “catalyst to demand the sensible change.”

While recent mass shootings do appear to have moved public opinion – a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found American support for stricter gun laws at its highest level in a decade – there has not been a rush at the state level to embrace sweeping new gun laws.

And most of the dozen or so states where significant new restrictions have been proposed already have a “C+” rating or above from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, putting them among the nation’s top states for gun control.

“Most of the viable proposals on the federal level and in most states would have very little impact on self-defense,” said UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh. “But pretty much all the gun control proposals out there are not going to be terribly effective at combating criminals.”

In New Jersey, several lawmakers began calling for new gun laws in the immediate aftermath of the Newtown shooting, even though the state already has an A- rating from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Legislators voted a raft of bills through the Democrat-controlled state assembly on Feb. 22, including a ban on .50 caliber weapons and a 10-round magazine limit. Those bills may still be held up by a hesitant Senate and Republican governor.

“We’re going to take a hard look at the bills the Assembly did,” New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney said in an interview with Philadelphia radio station 106.9FM. “Some might be changed, some might not go through at all.”

At the same time, lawmakers in Wyoming, South Dakota, Kansas, Tennessee, Texas, and Arizona all moved to loosen their controls on firearms, in many cases thumbing their nose at prospective federal legislation.

An Arkansas bill allowing holders of concealed-carry permits to bring their gun into churches was signed into law by Governor Mike Beebe, a Democrat, on Feb. 11.

First sponsored by state Senator Bryan King, the Church Protection Act passed the state’s Republican-controlled Senate by an overwhelming majority. In Kentucky, the state Senate voted 34 to 3 on Feb. 25 to approve a bill outlawing the enforcement of federal gun laws that do not yet exist.

The most aggressive gun-control legislative action so far has come in New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo championed one of the nation’s toughest bans on assault weapons, the first to come in the wake of Newtown. But the state already boasted gun laws that were among the nation’s toughest.

Even in states seared by recent tragedies, lawmakers have found their progress slowed.

After Connecticut lawmakers failed to coalesce around any of the gun laws offered in the days after Newtown, Democratic Gov. Dan Malloy introduced his own proposal and vowed to shove it through.

Lawmakers are trying to forge a bipartisan consensus but they are finding it difficult. “I would hope that we would have a broadly supported bipartisan bill, but I think it’s more important that we have a strong bill that meets the need,” said Sen. Majority Leader Martin Looney, a Democrat.

In Colorado, home of the Aurora theater shooting, House lawmakers advanced gun-control bills after some last-minute lobbying from Joe Biden, drawing the wrath of Republicans.

$The bills would mandate universal background checks, ban magazines with more than 15 rounds, and allow college campuses to prohibit concealed carry. With the Senate planning to vote soon, the magazine maker Magpul Industries threatened to abandon its plant 28 miles from Denver if the proposed magazine limit is put into law.

“Colorado is in a unique position in that we have suffered these tragedies firsthand, so there is a drumbeat in Colorado,” said Colorado Senate President John Morse, a Democrat. “I think the governor will be in support of all of these bills once we get them to his desk.”

Passing a bill expanding gun rights can be complicated, too, as Wyoming State Representative Kendell Kroeker, a Republican, found out.

He got a bill passed in the state House of Representatives that would have made it illegal for anyone to enforce any new federal law that placed restrictions on guns, ammunition, or other firearms accessories within the borders of the state.

That bill died amid questions of its constitutionality, Kroeker said. But the response from his constituents was “overwhelmingly positive,” he added.

Whether gun ownership changes for most Americans may come down to actions taken on the national level, as hesitant state lawmakers wait for a cue from Washington. The Senate Judiciary Committee put a one-week hold on prospective federal gun bills on Thursday

After Newtown, states slow to embrace new gun laws - U.S. News

Georgia town to consider requiring residents to own guns

By David Beasley | Reuters – 34 mins ago





ATLANTA (Reuters) - Residents of a small Georgia town may soon be asked to keep guns in their homes, a proposal that comes as federal lawmakers argue for new limits on firearm ownership.
A city leader in Nelson, 50 miles north of Atlanta, said on Wednesday he proposed an ordinance calling on every head of household to have a gun as a way to keep crime down.
Nelson, home to 1,300 people, employs one police officer, who is only on duty at night, city councilman Duane Cronic told Reuters. When the officer is off duty during the day, residents must call local sheriff's officials if they need assistance, which he said can result in longer response times.
Cronic said his proposal is similar to an ordinance enacted by the nearby town of Kennesaw in 1982. There would be no penalty for not having a weapon, but the law would send a message to would-be criminals, he said.
"It would be a like putting a big security sign in your front yard," he said.
Cronic's proposal is being considered amid heated debate at the federal and state levels over U.S. gun control laws in the wake of a December shooting rampage that left 26 people dead at a Connecticut elementary school.
The fatal attack has prompted some states to tighten gun laws, while other states are seeking to keep federal gun measures from being applied within their borders.
The Nelson city council will vote on the gun ownership ordinance on April 1, Cronic said.
Crime in Nelson mostly consists of petty theft, Cronic said, and he hopes the gun ordinance will keep it that way.
"This is just a way to keep our crime rate low," he said.
　
http://news.yahoo.com/georgia-town-consider-requiring-residents-own-guns-231201105.html

RELATED

http://www.alipac.us/f9/florida-bill...-class-273997/

S. Dakota signs law letting teachers carry guns in classrooms






By Cheryl K. Chumley

The Washington Times
Friday, March 8, 2013

• Enlarge Photo
  Illustration Second Amendment by Alexander Hunter for The Washington Times more >

South Dakota teachers are now allowed by law to carry guns in the classroom, a new law says.




Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed the bill on Friday, according to multiple media reports.
NPR says the “school sentinels” bill was aimed at giving school districts the authority to “create, establish and supervise the arming of school employees, hired security personnel or volunteers,” the text states.
NBC says 18 other states have laws to give school workers the right to bring weapons onto school grounds — but not to the same level of freedom as the newly passed South Dakota law. NBC says those other states all require the officials to have written permission before they bring a gun onto school property.
South Dakota’s new law states explicitly that teachers already possess this right.
Other states, meanwhile, are considering similar measures, NPR reports






S. Dakota signs law letting teachers carry guns in classrooms - Washington Times
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

NYC mayor announces $12M gun control ad buy targeting senators before legislation debate

By Associated Press,
Updated: Saturday, March 23, 7:35 PM

NEW YORK — A new $12 million television ad campaign from Mayors Against Illegal Guns will push senators in key states to back gun control efforts, including comprehensive background checks.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the ad buy Saturday — just days after Senate Democrats touted stronger background checks while acknowledging insufficient support to restore a ban on assault-style weapons to federal gun control legislation.

“These ads bring the voices of Americans — who overwhelmingly support comprehensive and enforceable background checks — into the discussion to move senators to immediately take action to prevent gun violence,” Bloomberg said in a statement issued by the group he co-founded in 2006.

The two ads posted on the group’s website, called “Responsible” and “Family,” show a gun owner holding a rifle while sitting on the back of a pickup truck.

In one ad, the man says he’ll defend the Second Amendment but adds “with rights come responsibilities.” The ad then urges viewers to tell Congress to support background checks.

In the other ad, the man, a hunter, says “background checks have nothing to do with taking guns away from anyone.” The man then says closing loopholes will stop criminals and the mentally ill from obtaining weapons.

The Senate is scheduled to debate federal gun control legislation next month. On March 28, the group plans for more than 100 events nationwide in support of passing gun control legislation that includes background checks.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns and other gun-control advocates frequently cite a mid-1990s study that suggests about 40 percent of U.S. gun transfers were conducted by private sellers not subject to federal background checks. Based on 2011 FBI data, the group estimates 6.6 million firearms transfers are made without a background check for the receiver.

A spokesman for Bloomberg could not immediately say if the $12 million was coming from Bloomberg or the mayor’s political action committee, Independence USA. The New York Times, which first reported the ad campaign Saturday night, said Bloomberg was bankrolling the ad buy.

A spokesman for the National Rifle Association blasted Bloomberg and the new ads, saying NRA members and supporters would be calling senators directly and urging them to vote against proposed gun control legislation.

“What Michael Bloomberg is trying to do is ... intimidate senators into not listening to constituents and instead pledge their allegiance to him and his money,” said spokesman Andrew Arulanandam.

Bloomberg has long supported efforts to curb gun violence, including sending New York City undercover investigators into other states to conduct straw purchases from dealers. Last month, Bloomberg’s PAC poured more than $2 million into ads supporting Illinois state Rep. Robin Kelly, who won a special primary and ran partly on a platform of supporting tougher gun restrictions.

The new ads will air in 13 states the group believes are divided on gun control: Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

NYC mayor announces $12M gun control ad buy targeting senators before legislation debate - The Washington Post

RELATED

Assault weapons ban dropped from Senate gun control bill | Fox News

Conn. governor signs sweeping gun restrictions into law; some measures take effect immediately

By Associated Press,
Published: April 3 | Updated: Thursday, April 4, 9:30 AM

HARTFORD, Conn. — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who four months ago broke the news to shocked parents that their children had been slaughtered in a Connecticut elementary school, signed into law Thursday sweeping new restrictions on weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines similar to the ones used by the man who gunned down 20 child and six educators in the massacre.

Alongside family members of some of the victims of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Malloy signed the bill hours after the General Assembly approved the measure to give the state some of the toughest gun laws in the country.

“This is a profoundly emotional day for everyone in this room,” Malloy said. “We have come together in a way that few places in the nation have demonstrated the ability to do.”

In the hours after the shooting Dec. 14, as anxious family members gathered inside a firehouse and waited for news, Malloy told them their loved ones were not coming home. He said later that he didn’t think it was right for the families to wait for the victims to be formally identified.

Now, Connecticut joins states including California, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts in having the country’s strongest gun control laws, said Brian Malte, director of mobilization for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence in Washington.

“This would put Connecticut right at the top or near the top of the states with the strongest gun laws,” Malte said.

The legislation adds more than 100 firearms to the state’s assault weapons ban and creates what officials have called the nation’s first dangerous weapon offender registry as well as eligibility rules for buying ammunition. Some parts of the bill would take effect immediately after Malloy’s signature, including background checks for all firearms sales.

Following a total of more than 13 hours of respectful and at times somber debate, the House of Representatives and the Senate 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.

Colorado and New York also passed new gun control requirements in the wake of the Newtown shooting, in which a 20-year-old gunman used a military-style semi-automatic rifle.

Compared with Connecticut’s legislation, which, for example, bans the sale or purchase of ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds, 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.

But some lawmakers said they felt the legislation did not do enough to address mental health issues.

Rep. Mitch Bolinsky, a freshman Republican lawmaker from Newtown, acknowledged the legislation “is not perfect” and he hoped would be “a beginning in addressing critical mental health needs.”


Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, whose district includes Newtown, said he felt he was representing the interests of the Sandy Hook victims as he cast his vote.

“I stand here as their voice, as their elected representative,” he said, reciting the names of the 26 victims.

Lawmakers appeared to still be stunned by the enormity of the massacre.

“When a child is sent to school, their parents expect them to be safe. The Sandy Hook shooting rampage was a parent’s, a school system’s, a community’s and the nation’s worst nightmare,” said Republican state Sen. Toni Boucher of Wilton.

Gun rights advocates who greatly outnumbered gun control supporters in demonstrations held earlier in the day at the Capitol railed against the proposals as misguided and unconstitutional, occasionally chanting “No! No! No!” and “Read the bill!”

“We want them to write laws that are sensible,” said Ron Pariseau, of Pomfret, who was angry he’ll be made a felon if he doesn’t register his weapons that will no longer be sold in Connecticut. “What they’re proposing will not stop anything.”

By the time the Senate voted around 6:30 p.m., many of the gun rights advocates had gone home, leaving behind proponents of the bill who applauded when the tally in the Senate was read. The halls were mostly empty by the time the House voted at about 2:30 a.m. Thursday.

In the legislature, leaders waited to unveil gun legislation until they struck a bipartisan deal that they say shows how the parties can work together in Connecticut and elsewhere. They touted the package as a comprehensive response to Newtown that also addresses mental health and school security measures, including the creation of a new council to establish school safety standards and the expansion of circumstances when someone’s mental history disqualifies him or her from obtaining a gun permit or other gun credentials.

“We did our job. We did it together,” said House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero Jr. “We did the best we could and I think we did a good thing.”

Among the gun control advocates who turned out to witness the vote were Dan and Lauren Garrett, of Hamden, wearing green shirts in honor of the Sandy Hook victims. The Garretts traveled to Hartford with their 10-month-old son, Robert, to watch the bill’s passage. They said they hope lawmakers will build on the proposal.

“It’s just the beginning of this bill. In six months from now, it’s going to get stronger and stronger,” Dan Garrett said. “I think they’re watching us all over the country.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...8f1_story.html

The puppets are working overtime for the puppeteers....oh my, aren't we lucky...soon we won't be able to defend ourselves, it will be illegal.....good use of that word!!!!

New Restrictions on Guns Pass the Legislature in Maryland

By TRIP GABRIEL
Published: April 4, 2013

Sweeping restrictions on gun ownership passed the Maryland General Assembly on Thursday, including a ban on new purchases of assault weapons, a 10-bullet limit on magazines and requirements that handgun buyers undergo fingerprinting and target training.

The bill now heads to the desk of Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat who has made tightened gun control one of his top priorities this year.

With President Obama’s gun legislation stalled in Congress, Maryland becomes the fourth Democratic-led state to enact restrictions. It follows New York, Colorado and Connecticut, which on Wednesday passed one of the nation’s toughest laws, 3 ½ months after the massacre of 26 children and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School there.

Maryland joins seven other states and the District of Columbia in banning new sales of military-style assault weapons, a measure dropped by Congressional gun control advocates because of fierce opposition.

The Maryland bill also includes restrictions on purchases by people with mental illness, barring anyone who has been involuntarily committed for mental health treatment from buying a gun.

Under the bill, handgun buyers must pass a background check, submit fingerprints and undergo training in a classroom and on a target range. They would then be issued a license like a state driver’s license.

Opponents of the bill argued that its restrictions would make it all but impossible for law-abiding residents to buy guns and would not reduce crime or mass shootings.

The state already has some of the nation’s toughest gun laws.

“We’ve had thousands of murders over the years and very few are committed by an assault rifle,” said Rep. Anthony J. O’Donnell, the House minority leader, who joined fellow Republicans and some conservative Democrats in opposing the bill. “This is a solution that will have very little effect and I believe it offers false hope in terms of stopping gun violence.”

Passage of the bill through the General Assembly was marked by impassioned debate both inside and outside the State House.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/us...ture.html?_r=0

New York's Assault Weapon Registration...

ABC News

- ‎23 minutes ago‎

Key measures of New York's tough new gun law kicked in Monday, with owners of firearms now reclassified as assault weapons required to start registering the firearms and new limits on the number of bullets allowed in magazines. . .