Four Democratic governors from the Northeast have formed a coalition on gun control, saying they can’t wait for Congress and the federal government to take action. Three of them appeared on CNN’s “New Day” Friday morning to explain why.
“We as governors are demanding action from the federal government and we need them to take action, but in the meantime, we’ve decided to take a regional approach,” said Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo.
That approach includes “sharing information about guns across our state lines, sharing a database, and for the first time that I know of having a regional research center which studies gun violence and the impact on public health,” she said.
The multi-state task force will trace and intercept illegal guns in the region, according to Raimondo and her fellow coalition members, Governors Andrew Cuomo of New York, Dannel Malloy of Connecticut and Phil Murphy of New Jersey.
Murphy told CNN’s John Berman that “the more coordinated we can be, the better we can be.”
In the wake of a school shooting in Florida earlier this month that left 17 people dead, President Donald Trump suggested arming teachers and giving bonuses to teachers carrying concealed weapons in an effort to keep schools safer. Malloy used the appearance on “New Day” to disagree.
“What we really need to do is have some sane laws in this country and what we really need to do is limit access to these weapons of mass destruction,” he countered. “Having good laws does change behaviors.”
The Connecticut Democrat claimed that his state’s passage of better gun legislation in the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook, an elementary school in Newtown, resulted in the largest drop in violent crime of any state in the nation by a third.
While four states are taking action, these governors are hoping that the list of participating states grows.
Raimondo summed up the coalition’s goal, saying, “What we’re saying here at the end of the day is it’s time to take action.”
