Hundreds attend Newtown gun safety hearing

[struggle4progress]

Gary Stoller, USA TODAY
7:44p.m. EST January 30, 2013
A hearing in the town where a gunman killed 26 people at a school will try and come up with recommendations for gun and school safety

NEWTOWN, Conn. — ... Parent David Wheeler said his son, Ben, was lost "to an unstable, suicidal individual who had access to a weapon that has no place in a home."

Wheeler was referring to gunman Adam Lanza, who took his own life after the massacre. Wheeler told the members of the Connecticut Legislature presiding over the packed hearing at Newtown High School that access to weapons is where they must focus their efforts.

"Military-style assault weapons belong in an armory under lock and key, not in a weapons safe at home," Wheeler said.

He also pressed for a better way to identify people in mental distress "that leaves their dignity and self-respect intact." ...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/30/newtown-gun-control-school-safety/1878169/

[struggle4progress]

1. Gun Advocates Take Back Seat to Calls for Stricter Laws at Newtown Forum

By PETER APPLEBOME
Published: January 30, 2013

... Brad Greene, who spoke surrounded by supporters of an antigun march scheduled for Feb. 14 in Hartford, said he and others had received a chilling education in the nation’s gun laws.

“We have come away appalled at what our laws allow,” he said. “We are incredulous at the type of assault and semiautomatic weapons and magazine clips that are considered legal. What is the logic behind allowing anyone with a wad of cash to buy an arsenal without a background check? It’s beyond our comprehension.”

Unlike the committee’s first hearing on Monday in Hartford, at which gun rights supporters from across the state turned out in force, proponents of gun control in green ribbons and stickers reading “We Demand Change Now” were by far the most conspicuous presence — both in testimony and in the audience, which filled the Newtown High School auditorium. And local officials and residents, still scarred by the tragedy, demanded it lead to change, no matter how hard the legislative obstacles.

Susie Ehrens, whose daughter, Emma, escaped from the school, appealed to the legislators to act as if it were their own children who did not come home alive that day ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/nyregion/gun-rights-take-back-seat-to-calls-for-stricter-laws-at-newtown-forum.html