NEWTOWN DEMOCRATIC TOWN COMMITTEE

                                               PRESS STATEMENT

GUN VIOLENCE, AGAIN.  Our hands covered our mouths. Our tears ran. Our faces dropped, and our hearts broke when we heard and watched violence against our children in Stockton, in Jonesboro, in Nickel Mines, at Columbine, at Virginia Tech, at Newtown, and sadly, many others.  We are enveloped in gun violence, in schools, in theaters, at municipal meetings, and at businesses. The members of the Newtown Democratic Town Committee join other good and honest people that say “Enough!”

The Newtown Democratic Town Committee (NDTC) submits that Game-Changing legislation is necessary. The NTDC supports State and Federal legislation being proposed by Governor Malloy and our Senators Blumenthal and Murphy, and Representative Esty. The NDTC believes that reforms in the gun market will make all of us safer. This includes universal background checks on all gun purchases, the elimination of high capacity magazines and armor piercing ammunition, and the restricting of further sales to civilians of high capacity assault weapons.

The Newtown Democratic Town Committee further endorses the work of The Brady Foundation, and Americans for Responsible Solutions recently established by former Representative Gabby Giffords. Like Representative Gabby Giffords and her husband, Naval Officer and Astronaut Mark Kelly, some members of the Newtown Democratic Town Committee are gun owners themselves and oppose interfering with hunters or responsible gun ownership. However, we recognize that other markets are regulated to protect the public.  The Second Amendment reads:

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Reasonable licensing and regulation for public safety is not infringement, it is responsibility.

Finally, let the jury system address the gun industry like any other industry. Why should gun manufacturers be immune from the consequences of their actions? Let’s repeal the gun manufacturer immunity Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act signed by George Bush October 26, 2005. Let the people and the Constitutional 7^th Amendment Right to Civil Trial by Jury decide whether the latest biometric fingerprint access prints on firearms, similar to what is available on doors and laptop computers, is a necessary security, and its absence a defective and unreasonably dangerous gun. The jury system changed the Ford Pinto, cigarettes, baby strollers, washers and dryers and hundreds of other products for the safety of the consumer.

The NDTC unanimously supports this directive. We encourage our Newtown Republican Town Committee friends to join us in this message.  We commend our First Selectman, Pat Llodra for her support of controlling gun violence, as well.

Newtown Democratic Town Committee

James Juliano
Chairperson, Newtown DTC

James Gaston, Sr.
Board of Selectmen,

Town of Newtown