Father of Newtown victim heckled at hearing
Ken Dixon
Updated 8:58 pm, Monday, January 28, 2013
Neil Heslin, of Shelton, holds a portrait of himself and his son, Jesse Lewis, one of the children killed in the Sandy Hook School shooting, during testimony before the Gun Violence Prevention Working Group at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford on Monday, January 28, 2012. Photo: Brian A. Pounds
HARTFORD -- Some came dressed in camouflage and others in suits.
Some wore National Rifle Association hats, casual clothing or bright power ties and sat next to each other, but on starkly different sides of the raging national argument on gun control.
Both groups, totaling about 1,500 people, were frisked upon entering the Capitol complex Monday, then applauded their supporters during historic, day-long hearings on the aftermath of the Newtown massacre.
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Bill Stevens, of Newtown, who has a daughter in town schools, promised that in the case of a home invasion, he would be calling 911 after first shooting the people threatening his family.
He paraphrased a famous gun-rights quotation: "I will tell you here today, you will take my ability to protect my Victoria from my cold, dead hands," Stevens said to the applause of supporters at about 5:30 p.m.
By 7 p.m. about 615 names had been called, although some left the Capitol without testifying.
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The sometimes boisterous public hearing -- after nearly four hours of testimony from State Police, parents of slain Newtown first-graders and city mayors -- seemed dominated by gun owners, who railed at more than 90 proposed bills.
"The Second Amendment!" was shouted a couple of times by as many as a dozen gun enthusiasts in the meeting room as Neil Heslin, holding a photo of his slain 6-year-old son, Jesse Lewis, asked why Bushmaster assault-style weapons are allowed to be sold in the state.
"There are a lot of things that should be changed to prevent what happened," said Heslin, who said he grew up using guns and was undisturbed by the interruption of his testimony.
"That wasn't just a killing, it was a massacre," said Heslin....
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