Malloy, Murphy React to Rollback of Sandy Hook Gun Regulation: UPDATED

WASHINGTON — The United States Senate voted to roll back a rule issued by the Obama administration in response to the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre on Wednesday.

The Republican-majority Senate approve legislation that would roll back the rule by a count of 57-43. Having been approved by a 235-185 House vote earlier this month, the bill now goes to President Donald Trump who is expected to sign it.

Gov. Dannel Malloy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman condemned the Senate's vote in statements issued Wednesday afternoon.

"The hypocrisy of the NRA and Republicans is shocking – both have called for better tools to identify potentially dangerous persons who are severely mentally ill as a way to reduce gun violence, and this measure did just that," said Malloy However, whenever the opportunity arose to lead, they have fallen woefully short."

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The rule required the Social Security Administration to submit information about mentally impaired recipients so they can be added to a list of people banned from buying a firearm. The Obama administration expected that the rule would add around 75,000 people to a databased of people banned from buying weapons, reports the Associated Press.

The National Rifle Association issued a Facebook post in support of the vote, stating that the rule prevented "tens of thousands of innocent Americans" being put onto the list without due process.

"So no, the Senate did not vote to make it easier for the mentally ill to buy guns," wrote the post. "It voted to uphold due process for all Americans. Anyone who says otherwise is lying."

The rule had been crafted in response to the events of Dec. 14, 2012, in order to restrict access to persons with mental health disorders to purchase weapons. The gunman responsible for the shooting death of 20 children and six educators at the Sandy Hook School had been found to have a "clear history of mental health problems," an investigative report found in 2014.

"The overwhelming majority of Americans – including NRA members – want commonsense gun violence prevention measures to ensure that those who should not have access to weapons cannot purchase them and do harm to themselves or others," Malloy continued."President Obama’s action strengthened protections while protecting rights of qualified citizens to purchase firearms.”

Senate Republicans argue that the rule infringes upon the Second Amendment rights of those who receive social security, reports the CT Mirror. Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, stated that doctors were not making the decision of whom to put on the list.

Grassley, who spearheaded the repeal effort according to the Associated Press, argued that the regulation unfairly stigmatizes the disabled. However, Sen. Chris Murphy said that the move does nothing to maintain American safety.

“Republicans consistently say we don’t need new gun laws, we just need better enforcement of the laws already on the books. But today, they voted to undermine enforcement of existing law that provides complete information for the background check system,” said Murphy in a statement. “Ninety percent of Americans support closing loopholes to make the background checks system better, but Congress just made it worse. Once again, we’ve failed to meet our basic duty to keep our kids, moms, dads, and neighbors safe.”

Patch file photo