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Malloy On Connecticut Gun Control Talks: 'It's Not Working'

The governor says he's going to step in and propose his own measures. The move comes as Vice President Joe Biden is set to speak on gun control today in Danbury.

Angry at what he describes as inaction by Connecticut's General Assembly on gun control, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has announced he intends to propose his own form of legislation on the issue.

Malloy is expected to announce his proposals this morning, before he meets in Danbury with Vice President Joe Biden for a symposium on the national issue of gun control, the Connecticut Mirror reports. 

Malloy on Wednesday unveiled his plan to circumvent his own task force on gun control during a meeting with editors and reporters of the Journal Inquirer of Manchester.

“It’s apparent to me that the legislature will not reach bipartisan consensus on this issue,” Malloy told the JI.  “I’m always being accused of trying to play this outsized role. I’ve held back. It’s not working, and I will very shortly be speaking on this issue on a fairly comprehensive basis.

Malloy formed his special Bipartisan Task Force on Gun Violence Prevention and Children's Safety following the Dec. 14 shootings at an elementary school in Newtown that killed 20 young students and six women. The task force held hearings in recent weeks but Malloy told the JI the panel has become politically mired.

“They wanted to do this — have a big panel with 50 or 60 people on the panel, and wanted to do this on a bipartisan basis and get to the same point. I’m now looking at leaders bailing out on hearings or rallies and people coming to talk about their own personal pain instead of gun control at a gun control rally," he told the newspaper.

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q May 21, 2013 at 01:25 pm
"Minimal impact" means some. Retiring debts over the next few years is a good thing andRead More doesn't mean you should borrow more. Perhaps when those debts are paid off there will be a little more money available to meet the basic needs of the schools and the town departments. As wonderful as the expansion sounds, it is not an immediate need - it is a "want". We know the potential benefits of the expansion. Please give specifics as to the cost per taxpayer per year and for how long to pay off this specific project. Thank you.
Betty-Lou Griffin May 21, 2013 at 11:48 am
The "complete reworking of the library" only included HVAC renovations being done on theRead More whole building, repair of the leaking roof and skylight that was ruining the library, and replacement of the circulation desk. No space was added. I am glad to hear that you recognize the benefits of expanded library space. Town Manager Steven Werbner has indicated that Tolland will be retiring several debts over the next several years, and this expansion would therefore have minimal impact on Tolland's debt burden or tax level. If we wait, multiple existing grant opportunities may disappear. Let's NOT wait another decade to address this problem. Let's at least send it to public hearing and referendum so that we can have a sincere and wide-reaching community discussion on this important issue, and allow our citizens the OPPORTUNITY TO VOTE.
q May 21, 2013 at 09:33 am
Love the idea of an expanded library space, but is the time really now? We couldn't even afford toRead More fully fund our school and town budgets for next year. We will be experiencing a lower quality of education and reduced town services and until we can bring that back up to par we should not be taking on new debt. Just a quick look at next year's budget shows we are still paying on the new High School, the Geothermal project, bonding for roads improvement, sewers, open space bonds, Cross Farms development, the new Library roof, and now the artificial turf/lights project at THS. Even if some grants are available to help with the cost, the Library Expansion Project will add more debt for the town (taxpayers). Is this really the time to do that?
q May 21, 2013 at 10:10 am
Love the idea of an expanded library, but we saw with this latest school/town budget that this townRead More cannot afford to maintain the level of education and town services we now have. How much will this library extension cost per year per taxpayer? Perhaps we should pay off some of our existing debt (including all the new debt incurred in just the past 3 years) before taking on new. Also, you mention the need for quiet tutoring rooms. Are these paid tutors you're referring to? If so, will they be charged rental fees for using the spaces paid for by the taxpayers? Aren't there spaces available at the new Rec Center at Parker? How about space at the schools? With fewer teachers and fewer students there are now empty classrooms.