Lamont calls for new gun laws after ‘utter tragedy’ in Texas

In a statement Tuesday night, Gov. Ned Lamont decried the “devastating” news of a mass shooting at an Uvalde, Texas elementary school, while calling for stricter gun control laws both locally and federally.

“One life taken by gun violence is too many, but 15 innocent lives, including 14 children, is an utter tragedy,” Lamont said in a statement. “Nearly ten years after Sandy Hook, Connecticut knows this feeling all too well. Our collective hearts and prayers go out to the families in Uvalde trying to process the unimaginable.

“We clearly have a gun problem in America,” he continued. “There are more damn guns on the street than ever before, especially illegal guns.”

According to reports, at least 19 people are dead and others injured after an 18-year-old gunman opened fire on students and teachers, in one of the largest school shootings since Adam Lanza killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown in December 2012.

In his statement Tuesday, Lamont described gun violence as a public health crisis requiring widespread action.

“It is incumbent upon lawmakers everywhere, whether it’s Connecticut, Texas, or our nation’s capital, to rise to the moment in addressing this problem,” Lamont said.

While Congress has repeatedly failed to pass federal gun control legislation amid opposition from most Republicans, Connecticut has passed significant measures since Sandy Hook, including a ban on certain weapons and a background check requirement for all firearm purchases.

Still, during the recent legislative session Lamont expressed a desire to do more, proposing a provision to rein in illegal “ghost” guns and an expansion of the state’s ban on assault rifles, among other measures, as part of a broader crime bill. The gun control language was abandoned before reaching the Senate floor, however, after pushback from Republicans and anti-gun control advocates.

In his statement Tuesday night, Lamont described gun violence victims as “our friends, fathers, kids, teachers, and neighbors.”

“They’re worth the effort to find a diligent, pragmatic, and hopefully bipartisan solution before we lose any more of them,” he said.