HARTFORD, Conn. — It’s been 12 years since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, where 20 first graders and six staff members were killed.
Connecticut’s federal lawmakers are continuing to call for stronger gun control measures.
“They look like a firearm. They shoot like a firearm. They kill like a firearm,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).
He and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) honed in Friday afternoon on “ghost guns” — untraceable weapons assembled with a 3D printer or do-it-yourself gun-making kit, purchased from unlicensed sellers.
“Trauma doesn't discriminate between a gun with a serial number and a gun without one,” said Johanna Schubert, director of policy & advocacy for Hartford Communities that Care.
Executive director of CT Against Gun Violence Earl Bloodworth said, “Gun violence impacts everyone. There are no boundaries, there's no discrimination.”
According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, more than 70,700 ghost guns were recovered by law enforcement across the country between 2016 and 2022 — nearly two-thirds of those were recovered in 2021 and 2022 alone.
“Why have a traceable gun, if you can just have a 3D printer in your house or send away for a kit and easily have an untraceable gun?” questioned Murphy.
This is an issue for law enforcement, but the mayor of Connecticut’s capital city, Arunan Arulampalam, says state laws are helping.
“The number of ghost guns we're confiscating is going down this year,” said Mayor Arulampalam. “So far, we’ve confiscated about 18% less than last year, because of state legislation that is working, which shows that this can work on a federal level.”
Blumenthal introduced legislation last year — the “Ghost Guns And Untraceable Firearms Act” — to require online and other sellers of gun-making kits comply with federal firearm safety regulations.
Arulampalam says this national measure is needed to protect those in Hartford.
“Laws that are passed in the state of Connecticut, they don't impact what comes across our border,” he said. “What we've seen with guns broadly is 53% of those illegal guns we're seizing here are coming from outside of Connecticut.”
The Biden administration did implement a rule in 2022, classifying gun kits as “firearms,” but lawmakers and gun control advocates are concerned the incoming Trump administration could reverse this rule.
“We've got work to do to try to protect the progress we've made. I'm skeptical that Donald Trump is gonna do anything that crosses the gun lobby,” Murphy said. “We’re seeing the fruits of our labor that the numbers are heading in the right direction, so even if we just protect the progress we made during the Biden administration, that may lead to numbers continuing to come down.”
Blumenthal says he knows the measure won’t pass this session, but says he’s planning to reintroduce it next year.
As for support with a new congress and presidential administration, both Blumenthal and Murphy believe they will have increased momentum and bipartisan support.
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Emma Wulfhorst is a political reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at ewulfhorst@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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