An honest examiner of a constitutional issue, whether Supreme Court justice or ordinary citizen, looks at more than just the provision and precedent that establish the basis by which a law is judged constitutional or not.

They will keep in mind the purpose of U.S. Constitution, set forth from the first words of the Preamble. It is nothing less than why we have a government at all: “in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity....”

Connecticut is again on the verge of strengthening laws meant to promote the general welfare -- against the proliferation of deaths by gunshot. The proposed law seeks to establish justice -- for gunshot victims and their survivors -- and provide for the common defense -- against random deadly violence. The nation is living through a time when the constitutional right to domestic tranquility is a goal. It is certainly not a reality, but more effective gun control could only help.

In the teeth of the Supreme Court’s decision striking down a New York law that required a person to demonstrate specific need to obtain a license to carry a concealed gun in public, Connecticut’s governor has proposed and the state House of Representatives has passed a measure that tightens up loopholes in legislation passed since the Sandy Hook Elementary School killings in 2012.

The bill bans the open carrying of firearms in public, while still generally allowing concealed carry with a permit except for particular locations. It increases penalties for people accused and convicted of serious repeat firearm offenses and extends the 2019 ban on unregistered “ghost guns” backward to those already in existence at the time of the ban. It prohibits transactions of more than three handguns to an individual in a 30-day period.

Some other states have cheered the 2022 decision of the high court majority that under the Second Amendment New York was wrong to require license applicants to demonstrate a need for concealment. Many state legislatures have been rewriting laws to make it easier to obtain and carry guns and ammunition. Meanwhile, New York and like-minded states are now seeking alternatives to what the court has disallowed.

Connecticut is among the latter. The measure identified as Governor’s Bill 6667, if passed by the state Senate, will get the signature of Gov. Ned Lamont, who proposed its content and is urging passage. Among the governor’s allies in the push for further reform are several of the state’s urban mayors, seeking help for rising gun violence on their streets.

We urge the Senate to act favorably on the bill before its deadline of June 7.

On Thursday Lamont publicly commemorated the 30th anniversary of Connecticut’s 1993 passage of one of the country’s earliest assault weapons bans. Enacted a year before the federal ban on manufacturing assault weapons for civilian ownership, the Connecticut ban remains in force. The federal ban lasted only 10 years. It sunset without reauthorization, eight years before the Sandy Hook killer used assault weapons in his attack.

An appalling series of rampages with assault weapons has continued through the years.

Connecticut’s two U.S. senators continue to keep the state in the forefront of efforts by some in Congress, joined by the Biden administration, to expand other gun safety controls as long as a federal assault weapons ban remains politically out of reach. The first such gun control legislation in decades passed in 2022 under the leadership of Sen. Chris Murphy and a bipartisan group. Murphy recently announced he would run for re-election in 2024 with gun control as a central theme of his campaign.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, whose career has often included consumer protection as a way to increase health and safety, announced last month that he and Murphy would sponsor a bill holding firearms makers and sellers to responsible advertising.

Let Connecticut continue to lead the way in gun safety controls.