In the News

Congressman Connolly issued the following statement on the three-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook Tragedy:

Three years ago today, a gunman shot his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut with a Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle. Before his shooting spree was through he would methodically hunt down and kill 20 innocent children and 6 school faculty members inside the school.

It was a scene that has been repeated too often in the United States, and just as often, the response to these senseless killings has been inaction on the issue of gun control. Despite the demonstrable evidence to the contrary, the NRA – the standard bearer for the gun lobby - would have you believe that there is simply nothing we can do to stem gun-related violence. The NRA opposes expanded background checks for gun purchases – something majorities of gun owners (85%) and NRA members (74%) support. The NRA opposes the CDC funding research on gun violence and its impact on public health despite the fact that more than 30,000 people die in gun related deaths each year – including 11,000 in confirmed homicides.

The longtime ban on gun violence research was put into place through an amendment to an appropriations bill offered by Congressman Jay Dickey in 1996. Congressman Dickey now regrets instituting the ban and believes it should be undone.

The gun lobby opposes safer gun purchases that keep guns out of the hands of people who would likely seek to injure and kill other people. And it continues to suppress investigations into the deadly role guns play in 30,000 annual fatalities.

All while adhering to the orthodoxy that guns keep us safe. One would think the hypocrisy could go no further. One would be wrong.

Republicans in Congress, at the bidding of the NRA and the gun lobby, are currently opposing a bill offered by one of their own Members, Peter King of New York, that would prevent individuals on the terrorist watch list from obtaining firearms.

So why exactly does Congress beat back the gun control measures that a majority of gun owners themselves support, suppress the science behind gun violence, and turn a blind eye to terrorists’ access to deadly firearms? Look no further than the NRA and the gun lobby.

It is clear their interests are not our own and that the safety of Americans is not consistent with their mission. It is also clear that too many Members of Congress see NRA talking points as dogma.

But not this Member of Congress. I support expanded background checks. I support gun violence research. And I support restricting the sale of guns to terrorists.

It is a sad commentary on our gun control debate that none of these positions have broad bipartisan support. If more politicians viewed the safety of the American people as more important than pleasing NRA executives, reason would prevail and the club of gun violence victims and their families would not continue its unrelenting growth.

Let us use this solemn anniversary to rededicate ourselves to the mission of bringing sanity to gun control policy in the United States.