UHart Gun Safety Summit Draws Who's Who Of Activists

WEST HARTFORD/BLOOMFIELD/HARTFORD, CT — Joe Biden may have been the reason for the Secret Service swarming the University of Hartford Campus Wednesday for the 2023 National Safer Communities Summit.

But the all-day forum addressing gun and community safety in the age of mass shootings also featured several major players on the national stage.

From the man who prosecuted the killer of George Floyd in Minneapolis to a former congresswoman nearly killed by a gunman more than a decade ago, Wednesday's forum drew a packed house of activists, all with the same goal: a safer society.

The event was part political rally and part poignant reminder of why gun safety has become such an emotional topic in today's divided political landscape.

Many in attendance Friday were school shooting survivors or relatives (including several parents) of school shootings.

Still dominant on everyone's minds was the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, when 26 people, including 20 grade-school children, were senselessly slaughtered.

Not only did Friday's proceedings seek additional gun safety legislation, it celebrated the one-year anniversary of the federal "Bipartisan Safer Communities Act."

Among the speakers and some of their messages were, in order of appearance:

• Democratic Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin: "We know there is so much more work to do.

"We've seen Connecticut at the forefront of common-sense gun laws," Bronin said. "I'm so grateful that Connecticut has stayed in the loop."

• Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, on those who claim the problem with shootings is with issues other than guns: "Every time they tell me it's not about the guns ... it's about the guns."

• U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., one of the event's hosts who introduced Biden to the podium: "Today is a really big day. We have brought together today the entirety of the anti-gun violence movement and that's a big deal."

"It is gun safety voters, not the NRA (National Rifle Association) that matters most in Washington."

• Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who prosecuted former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin, who murdered George Floyd in 2020, sparking a national outcry of protests regarding police treatment of minorities: "The number one cause of unexpected deaths of juveniles is gun violence. Let that sink in."

On the Republican and Democratic supporters of last year's federal bipartisan gun safety legislation, Ellison said: "They all agree that people have the right to not be shot, which is saying something."

• U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said as the younger populations gets older, votes and runs for office, the generation that came of age with school shootings a constant threat will have more power when it comes to gun safety legislation: "I think what is really changing here is the young people joining the movement."

• U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Georgia, on what gun safety legislation has done: "Think of all the people across the country that were saved. We have to be in the business of saving peoples' lives."

• U.S. Secretary of Education Miquel Cardona, a Connecticut native who was a Connecticut school principal in 2012 when Sandy Hook happened and in his current role in 2022 when several elementary school children were murdered at the hands of a gunman in Uvalde, Texas, prompting last year's bipartisan gun safety measure: "Something different happened this time. This time, Washington listened to the voice of the American people.

"We know safe communities lead to safer schools," Cardona said. "This work is important. It will save lives. But let me be clear. It's not enough. It will not be enough unless we get tougher gun laws."

• Former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was nearly killed by a gunman in Arizona in 2011. Her husband is current U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona.

She said her first fight is to continue recovering from the shooting, whose effects are still impacting her life. "I'm also in a second fight, the fight to stop gun violence."

'Biden To Gun Safety Activists At UHart Event: 'You Cannot Give Up'

To watch Joe Biden's full speech as well as all of the day's events, click on this link.

From June 14: 'Biden To Visit UHart Friday For Gun Safety Summit'

For more information on last week's State of Connecticut gun safety legislation package, click on this link.

For more information on the 2022 'Bipartisan Safer Communities Act,' click on this link.