US President Barack Obama was due to arrive in Connecticut yesterday to mourn the dead and console the survivors of a gunman’s rampage that killed 20 children after he forced his way into their school and shot them.
Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy yesterday became the latest public figure to call for new gun control measures following Friday’s rampage that left 28 dead, including the gunman who used high-powered firearms.
“These are assault weapons. You don’t hunt deer with these things,” Malloy said on the CNN program State of the Union.
Photo: Reuters
The president was due to arrive after authorities released the names of the dead on Saturday and more details emerged about the victims and the rampage itself.
After killing his mother at home, Adam Lanza, 20, forced his way into the Sandy Hook Elementary School and started firing at the children, most if not all with a powerful rifle — a military-style Bushmaster .223 M4 carbine — at close range. He also killed six adult women at the school and himself, putting the death toll at 28.
Though Americans have seen many mass shootings over the years, the victims have rarely been so young.
Malloy, referring to the shooter, said: “We know that he was a troubled individual, and that he went to school with a number of weapons which he used on his victims and ultimately used on himself ... I’m sure we’ll come to know more about him and his problems and his family.”
Nancy Lanza legally owned a Sig Sauer and a Glock, both handguns commonly used by police, and the military-style Bushmaster long gun, according to law enforcement officials.
Those weapons were the ones used by her son in the massacre.
“The mother purchased them. And they have the patina of legal purchases. I mean, there’s always a question: Was she purchasing them for herself? ... If she was purchasing them for another individual, her son, then there’s a question about that purchase,” the governor said.
On Saturday, some Democratic lawmakers called for sweeping new gun-control measures, a move certain to encounter forceful opposition from the nation’s pro-gun lobby.
Malloy, a Democrat, added his voice to the gun-control calls yesterday. US lawmakers have not approved a major new gun law since 1994, and they let a ban on certain semi-automatic rifles known as assault weapons expire in 2004.
Malloy lamented that the ban on assault weapons was allowed to lapse. He also said a lot of guns used in crimes in his state were actually purchased in other states and brought to Connecticut.
“Connecticut has a pretty aggressive law. Probably of the 50 states, I think we’re ranked fourth-most aggressive in trying to limit access to these kinds of weapons,” the governor said.
School district officials said classes would resume tomorrow, except at Sandy Hook. As of Saturday night, they were still working on a plan for how and where to let the school’s kindergarten-through-fourth-grade classes resume.
Obama was scheduled to speak at a vigil at 7pm in the affluent town of 27,000 people about 130km from New York City.
Police said on Saturday they had assembled “some very good evidence” on the killer’s motives, but revealed little.
Lanza had struggled at times to fit into the community and his mother Nancy pulled him out of school for several years, to home-school him, said Louise Tambascio, the owner of My Place Restaurant, where his mother was a long-time patron.
His father, Peter Lanza, issued a statement saying the family was in a “state of disbelief.”
“We too are asking why,” the statement said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source