Connecticut approves gun control measures in response to Newtown shooting

Connecticut lawmakers have approved gun control measures, which campaigners say are the strictest in America, following December Sandy Hook massacre.

The new restrictions include a ban on new high-capacity magazines and background checks on all gun buyers.

President Barack Obama and gun control advocates say the measures are needed to curb an epidemic of gun violence.

In December 2012, gunman Adam Lanza in Newtown, Connecticut, killed 26 people, including 20 children, at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Gun rights groups argue the legislation – which was approved by both the senate and lower house in Connecticut – would not have prevented the Newtown school shooting.

Connecticut assembly passed the legislation after more than 13 hours of debate.

In Washington, the US Congress is set to debate new gun control legislation this month.

Gun control in Connecticut became a predominant political issue after 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot his way into Sandy Hook primary school with a high-powered rifle legally purchased by his mother – whom he also killed.

The killings also reignited national debate on gun control, and led to President Barack Obama making gun safety one of the defining issues of his second term, which started a month after the shooting.

Barack Obama plans to visit Connecticut on April 8 as his proposed gun control measures in Congress appear to have stalled. Correspondents say the president will use it to increase pressure on lawmakers in Washington.

Gun control measures passed by Connecticut on April 4 include:

• an expansion of the state’s assault weapons ban
• background checks for all prospective firearms purchasers, including in private transactions
• a ban on the sale or purchase of ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds
• a registry of weapons offenders
• a state eligibility certificate to purchase a rifle or shotgun that involves a psychiatric commitment check

“This is a new and historic model for the country on an issue that has typically been the most controversial and divisive,” Connecticut Senate President Donald Williams was quoted by local media as saying at the end of a 6-hour debate in the lower house on Thursday morning.

The approval of the bill by both houses of the Connecticut assembly came after weeks of negotiations between Democratic and Republican legislative leaders, who said they were determined to produce a bipartisan bill in response to the tragedy.

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