The Governor of Connecticut has signed a  gun-control bill that includes a strengthened assault weapons ban. The pens he used to sign the bill were distributed to parents of children massacred at Newtown in December. In signing the Governor note that “When 92 percent of Americans agree that every gun sale should be subject to a background check” – as provided in the new Connecticut law, but not in federal law – “then there’s no excuse for representatives or senators who don’t come to the assistance of those that they are elected to represent. ”   The legislation also requires universal background checks for purchasers of all firearms and expands the state’s existing ban on assault weapons. By way of compromise, “owners of those large-capacity magazines would not be required to turn them in, although their use would be restricted and they would have to be registered with the state by Jan. 1, 2014.”

Passage of this bill was not all smooth sailing. Predictably, many gun owners “booed at gun control supporters who went by” and carried virulent signs. Conversely, one parent said “This is going to be something that takes a long time.”  “This is just the first step in a multitude of steps. This is progress. Progress is always good.” Editors note: Those who oppose gun violence must now hope that other states will follow this splendid example.