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Nearly two thousand people waited in snow and frigid temperatures Monday in order to attend a hearing of the Bipartisan Task Force on Gun Violence Prevention and Children’s Safety in Hartford.
Gun control advocates and opponents talked with each other as they waited to pass through metal detectors at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.
"If it was up to me I would mandate that every teacher have a carry permit."
Scott Hoffman is an avid deer and bird hunter from Suffield.
"If there was one teacher in that school with a gun, that guy would not have gotten all those kids. Have the principals, the teachers, everybody be armed and instructed on how to use guns. Its that simple."
"Excuse me sir. I have to say, speaking as a high school student, I would not feel very safe knowing any teacher had a gun."
Olive Kuhn is a student at Middletown High School. "I just feel like the presence of guns never makes the situation safer."
Inside, Mark Waxenberg, Executive Director of the CT Education Association, announced the results of a first ever poll of teachers on gun laws and school safety. "Our poll shows that 85% of our teachers do not want teachers armed and or trained in doing their duty as educators in the state of Connecticut".
And he says, 88% of teacher support a ban on military-style semi-automatic assault weapons to everyone except police and the military.
At the hearing, lawmakers heard from family members of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. Neil Haslin echoed the teachers views. He said he hoped that the death of his son – six year old Jesse Lewis – would lead to the end of assault weapon sales to civilians. "I was raised with firearms and hunting and skeet shooting. I’m not in favor of favor of banning guns or weapons. I’m in favor of and would like to see a lot stricter regulations. "
Representatives from the state’s gun industry also spoke out. They said they share the goal of reducing violence, but warned that gun bans could hurt Connecticut’s economy.
