Malloy Talks Guns, Taxes, Energy, Education and More in Manchester

On the same day that he signed into law a historic gun control bill, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy spent an evening in Manchester answering residents questions in a town hall-style meeting Thursday night. 

Malloy appeared in front of a packed house in the Lincoln Center Hearing Room at 494 Main St. fielding questions for about an hour. Residents were encouraged to arrive early if they wanted to ask a question, and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman fielded the questions and determined the order of selection so that one topic did not dominate the debate.

Malloy touted his push to expand the availability of natural gas for Connecticut businesses and residents as a way to lower energy costs in Connecticut, which he noted has some of the highest energy rates in the nation. When asked how a shift to natural gas could impact or damage the heating oil business in Connecticut, Malloy said he favored a strategy of trying to provide the cleanest, most affordable and reliable energy as possible to the state's residents and businesses. 

When the subject of gun control and the gun bill, An Act Concerning Gun Violence Prevention and Children’s Safety, that Malloy signed into law earlier in the day finally came up, resident Zach Davis said he was skeptical that the bill would prevent similar situations like the Newtown shootings from occurring in the future, and also that he was concerned that the legislation would decimate the gun manufacturing industry in Connecticut and infringe on the Second Amendment.
 
Malloy said that the bill bans Connecticut residents from possessing "assault weapons" similar to the AR-15 that Adam Lanza used in the Newtown shootings, but does not preclude manufacturers from producing the guns in Connecticut and selling them out of state. 

"We made a decision in this state, and that is that we don't want these instruments sold any longer in our state," Malloy said. "We're not saying you have to leave." 

Malloy noted that up until the federal assault weapons ban expired in 2004, weapons like the AR-15 and high-capacity magazines like the 30-round clips that Lanza used to massacre 26 students and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in less than five minutes were illegal to possess. 

"If that had been legally closed, that weapon would not have been purchased by Adam Lanza's mother, would not have been in that home," Malloy said. "…One of the reasons he could get off 154 shots in less than 5 minutes is that instrument with those magazines." 

Another resident called the bill "merely symbolic" and a "bandaid" when it came to the school safety and mental health portions. 

Malloy said that much of the school safety issues were local issues best handled by each municipalities local school board and superintendent, and that he could not and should not dictate school safety mandates. He said he also expected the state legislature to pass additional mental health bills. 

"I don't think that the legislature, nor do I advocate, that the legislature should go in and tell every school system how to spend its security dollars," Malloy said. "...The role of the Governor is not to the be the superintendent of every school system, or for that matter the chief security officer." 

When asked about his plan to eliminate car taxes and how that could place a greater tax burden on local property owners, Malloy said the car tax in Connecticut was "eminently unfair" and cited how people living in different communities pay a different rate of taxes on the same car based on the local mill rate. 

"Think about the fact that if you live in Hartford you're paying more than the sales tax on that car every single year you own it. This is such a bad system that no single state does it the way we do it. You can't find one," Malloy said. "…A car is worth exactly the same no matter where it is, so I'm trying to get to that issue." 

Malloy said that being the governor is a difficult job and it is impossible to satisfy everyone, but that as long as he was in office he would continue to do what he felt was best for the citizens of Connecticut, boost job creation and return the state to sound economic footing. 

"I get beat up by a lot of folks, one side or the other," Malloy said. "One side beats me up for not raising taxes enough, the other side for raising taxes too much."