Author: Staff

MILFORD >> Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, New Haven Mayor Toni Harp, Bridgeport’s police chief and other leaders gathered at St. Gabriel’s School Monday to pledge their support of the national “Don’t Stand Idly By” anti-gun violence campaign that calls upon change to begin with gun manufacturers.

The leaders spoke at a meeting of Congregations Organized for a New Connecticut — or CONECT — a community organization of 27 churches, synagogues, and mosques from East Haven through Fairfield County representing more than 15,000 people. CONECT is co-chaired by the Rev. James Manship of St. Rose of Lima Church in New Haven and Pastor Bernadette Hickman-Maynard of Bethel AME Church in Bridgeport.

Read more: http://www.nhregister.com/government-and-politics/20140602/connecticut-leaders-seek-changes-from-gun-makers

Milford – Once again, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has put himself in potential conflict with Connecticut’s firearms industry, this time by signing onto a nascent effort by an interfaith group to force manufacturers into a conversation about their role and responsibility in stopping gun violence.

A year after seeking and signing gun control measures in response to the Sandy Hook school massacre, Malloy has committed to a campaign by a new player in the gun debate: CONECT, the social-justice coalition best-known for defending the rights of Latinos and undocumented immigrants.

“It is time to have a dialogue with the firearms industry itself,” Malloy told 100 members of CONECT, Congregations Organized for a New Connecticut.

Read more: http://ctmirror.org/malloy-joins-interfaith-effort-to-pressure-gunmakers/

Sometimes big ideas begin with tiny seeds.

Earlier this spring, representatives from a gun retailer met informally with several Jersey City officials, including the mayor and the public safety director.

The meeting — deliberately kept low-key — was part of a national strategy to recalibrate America’s gun rights debate by persuading firearms companies to address safety issues before bidding on contracts to sell guns and ammunition to police.

Read more: http://www.northjersey.com/news/kelly-a-step-toward-gun-control-comes-in-the-fine-print-1.1035693

CLEVELAND — Their rallying phrase: Our united power builds a Greater Cleveland.  It’s strength in numbers. It’s getting loud enough to get something done.

The Greater Cleveland Congregations pulls people from more than 30 faith groups to make change from the ground up with one new goal: stopping illegal guns.  In a room of several hundred people Thursday, only a few could say they haven’t seen the impact of gun violence.

“I’ve seen a dozen people shot, six shot and killed,” said Cleveland resident Brandon Copleland. “Growing up on Wade Park, you become numb to it, you accept the unacceptable…[Guns are] all over the place, and now a days people shoot first and ask questions later.”

Read more: http://www.wkyc.com/story/news/2014/05/30/greater-cleveland-congregations-fights-gun-supply/9751131/

Following the recent mass killing in California, faith leaders in Connecticut gathered on Monday to call on gun manufacturers to take steps aimed at reducing gun violence. 

Leaders from more than 25 churches, synagogues, and mosques in New Haven and Fairfield counties, along with Governor Dannel Malloy and mayors from New Haven, Bridgeport, and Norwalk, as well as First Selectwoman Pat Llodra of Newtown, planned to speak out as part of a campaign called Do Not Stand Idly By.

Read more: http://wnpr.org/post/connecticut-faith-leaders-press-gun-manufacturers-safety-and-weapons-distribution