Let’s pin them down on gun safety

Ask them where they stand. We’re going to.

It’s not too early to start pressing the various candidates for public office — governor on down — on where they stand on gun safety.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who leaves office in January, will be long remembered for having made that issue one of the hallmarks of his eightyear tenure.

Within months of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings that staggered the country, he pushed for and signed laws that, among other things, banned the sale of magazines capable of carrying more than 10 rounds and expanded the types of weapons prohibited under Connecticut’s existing ban on so-called assault weapons.

And he has been consistent through his time in office: Just last week, for instance, he signed the law that makes so-called bump stocks — devices that increase the fire power of already deadly semi-automatic rifles — illegal in Connecticut.

He’s been unflinching in criticizing the National Rifle Association for its obstruction of such common-sense measures as universal background checks.

Malloy recently joined Govs. Phil Murphy of New Jersey, Andrew Cuomo of New York, and Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island in a coalition designed to strengthen the fight against gun violence through the regional sharing of information and assets.

But there is plenty more work to be done, both in Connecticut and nationally..

For one thing, the universal background check battle is still

— inexplicably — unresolved

“Ghost guns,” untraceable weapons that can be assembled at home from pieces available online, is another area that screams for attention.

Any time is a good time to press candidates for their positions on issues important to you. Coincidentally, Connecticut’s U.S. senators, Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, joined with colleagues in Washington to designate June as “National Gun Violence Awareness Month.”

It may seem like a bit of fluff, but just about anything that keeps the subject in the forefront is a benefit.

Candidates for various public offices are very much out in public these days. The candidates endorsed by the respective parties’ delegates at recent conventions — Democratic gubernatorial endorsee Ned Lamont, of Greenwich, and Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, his Republican counterpart — are pounding the pavement around the state. Oz Griebel, a Hartford business man, is an independent candidate for governor.

And a variety of challengers on both sides are working toward an Aug. 14 primary election that will determine the parties’ nominees for the general election of Nov. 6.

And, of course, there are races for other offices, including the Fourth and Fifth Congressional districts and seats in the state legislature.

Connecticut faces many issues — among them, the economy, a tired transportation infrastructure, a yawning wealth gap.

When you have the chance, ask the candidates for a specific answer on the subject that most concerns you. We hope that gun safety is one of them. Ask them where they stand.

We’re going to.