Conn. Governor Signs Gun Control Law in Response to Newtown Shooting

As the debate over gun control continues to rage across the U.S., Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed some of the strictest proposals in the country into law Thursday, dedicating the new gun restrictions to the victims of the December school shooting in Newtown at Sandy Hook Elementary. 

Standing next to various family members of some of the victims of the Newtown massacre, Gov. Malloy passed extensive new regulations on weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines just hours after the General Assembly approved the proposals. 

"This is a profoundly emotional day for everyone in this room," Malloy said. "We have come together in a way that few places in the nation have demonstrated the ability to do."

Connecticut's House of Representatives passed the bi-partisan crafted bill early Thursday morning just before 2:30 a.m., voting 105-44 in favor of the new gun control restrictions, according to WFSB. 

The new regulations add more than 100 guns to Connecticut's assault weapons ban, and prohibit the sale or purchase of ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. Connecticut lawmakers also say the bill establishes the first "dangerous weapon offender" registry in America. Some of the new measures included in the law, such as compulsory background checks for all firearms sales, became effective as soon as Gov. Malloy signed the 139-page bill. 

"I pray today's bill - the most far-reaching gun safety legislation in the country - will prevent other families from ever experiencing the dreadful loss that the 26 Sandy Hook families have felt," said House Majority Leader Joe Aresimowicz.

The newly signed law places Connecticut alongside California, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts with the strictest gun control regulations in the nation. 

"My son Jake will be safer because of that," said Nichole Hokely, whose son Dylan was slain at Sandy Hook.

According to newly released warrants that include reports from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the morning of Dec. 14, 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot his mother Nancy in the head as she lay in bed, packed four legally purchased firearms and drove a black Honda Civic to the Connecticut K-4 elementary school. Lanza opened fire in two classrooms around 9:30 a.m., fatally shooting 20 children and six adults with a Bushmaster .223-caliber rifle, showering the rooms with 154-bullets in less than five minutes before taking his own life with a Glock 10 mm handgun. Police revealed the Bushmaster had a 30-round capacity magazine; 14 rounds were left in the magazine, with one bullet still in the chamber. 

Authorities said Lanza was found dressed up in military clothing, including a bulletproof vest. He still had another three, 30-round magazines left for the Bushmaster, as well as another loaded handgun on him. Police also found a fully loaded 12-gauge shotgun in the car's glove compartment, along with 70 rounds of Winchester 12-gauge shotgun rounds. 

Statistics are split across the board concerning guns and self-defense. No one study has provided definitive proof for either side of the gun control argument. 

A recent study conducted by The Harvard Injury Control Research Center, who analyzed gun and homicide data and literature, said that available evidence indicated that more guns equals more murders, a finding it said was supported across states, and countries.

Since 1982, there have been "at least 61 mass murders carried out with firearms across the country" in 30 states, according to Mother Jones; of those, 15 occurred in 2012 alone, according to The Huffington Post.