WASHINGTON — Contrary to President Obama's dismal read on the prospects of gun-control legislation, activists in the states say they are optimistic — they are finding success in advocating for tighter regulations on firearms.
According to a January report by the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, 242 new gun laws have been enacted in the states since the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Of those laws, 99 place restrictions on gun ownership, 88 remove restrictions, and 55 have been so-called "minimal impact."
The states doing the work gun-safety proponents most like are mostly not ones up for grabs on the national level in 2016: California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Washington, according to the report. But blue states have close internal elections, and many Democrats in them are going to run on stricter gun control.
"In the face of inaction in Congress, many leaders in state houses around the country are acting to make their communities safer places to live," Mark Prentice, a spokesperson for Americans For Responsible Solutions — the group founded by former Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelley — told BuzzFeed News in an email. "That's why, since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, eight states have acted to close the loopholes that let dangerous people get guns, and why several states have acted to protect domestic violence victims from gun violence."
Prentice said that since Newtown "eight states have expanded background checks," and 18 "now have expanded background checks on handgun sales," a group that covers around 35% of the U.S. population.
In the next election cycle, knowledgeable Democrats said to expect gun control to play a significant part of Democratic campaigns in Oregon and Washington, states not expected to get a lot of presidential attention but have high-profile gubernatorial contests. The Oregon state legislature, which Democrats hope to hold onto as part of their national plan to take a majority of state legislative houses ahead of the 2020 census and the congressional redistricting that will follow it, has already seen Democrats face recall for some gun control laws they've already enacted. The gun control effort was bolstered there by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose Everytown for Gun Safety spent big for pro gun-control Democrats in the state.
Last month that effort paid off when Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, signed a background check bill into law. It's part of a record she'll be running on when she seeks her first elected term as governor in 2016. (Brown got the top job in Oregon after her predecessor resigned in scandal shortly after being reelected.)
In Washington, incumbent Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee is expected to run for reelection in 2016. In 2014, voters in the state passed a background check law by public referendum. Inslee is closely tied to that law, having pushed hard for its passage, and its likely Inslee and fellow Democrats in the state will make defending gun control a part of the campaign.
Dan Malloy, the governor of Connecticut and incoming chair of the Democratic Governors Association, was governor when the Newtown shooting happened and helped to usher through tough gun-control legislation afterwards. He narrowly won re-election in 2014 in a race that included tough criticisms of those laws from Republicans. In a statement, Malloy told BuzzFeed News his state is providing an example for gun control proponents — and said it was time for Congress to take a page from his book.
"After the tragedy at Sandy Hook, Connecticut, responded by passing one of our nation's toughest, smartest gun laws and we took steps to protect our schools, our communities and our children. Now we are seeing crime, including violent crime, fall to record lows across Connecticut while our prison population has also declined," Malloy said. "I stand with President Obama and agree that Congress should take this opportunity to reflect about our nation's gun laws and the needed changes to prevent acts violence in our communities."
Gun-control activists say that victories at the state level will continue to chip away at the resistance to stronger laws at the national level.
"The only thing that will change this sad status quo is when the American public holds its leaders accountable to put our interests first. It took us six votes over seven years to pass the original Brady Bill and we are not going anywhere until we 'finish the job' and expand lifesaving Brady background checks to all gun sales," Jonathan Hutson, a spokesperson for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, wrote in an email. "And in the meantime, we have been taking this fight to the states and winning, building momentum the likes of which this issue hasn't seen in decades."