Legislative leaders negotiated late Wednesday on bipartisan consensus on gun control, one day after the governor's special task force on gun violence split along party lines on new weapons proposals. The lawmakers are expected to meet again this morning to continue the talks, the Connecticut Mirror reports.
Democratic and Republican leaders met for more than two hours Wednesday night to work on a unified response to the mass murder of 26 children and women at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14. The task force was formed in mid-January by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, among much political fanfare on Connecticut's response to the devastating shootings in Newtown.
On Tuesday, the task force issued two gun control plans, one from Democrats, the other from Republicans. The panel's inability to formulate a single plan has drawn criticism from several quarters. About two weeks ago Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, frustrated by what he said was a lack of momentum by the task force, issued his own proposals on gun control.
Criticism of the panel is beginning to mount from other quarters as well. In an editorial yesterday the Connectict Post called the task force the "Politics as Usual Non-Working Group," adding that legislators on the panel had "retreated to positions that were long ago entrenched" on gun control."
While a new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday shows broad support among Connecticut residents for gun control in the wake of the Newtown shootings, a report in Thursday's Hartford Courant says other states are moving on specific gun control measures while Connecticut lags behind.
Great news! See how they like them apples.