A different Memorial Day

The tiny state of Connecticut has done something remarkable, something that no other state has tried: Create a coherent gun control law.

The constraints are few: You can walk around your own property with a gun. You can’t own an assault rifle unless you actually need one. You can only buy three handguns a month. You can’t own a ghost gun, an untraceable gun made from a kit bought online.

And now in Connecticut the legal age to buy a “long gun”—shotguns, rifles—will be raised to 21, in stark contrast to a state like Florida, where the legislature is in the process of lowering the long-gun age to 18, and also basically making it possible for anyone to carry guns anywhere, any time.

The story in today’s issue from our partners at CT Mirror gives the details of Connecticut’s latest effort. As Mark Pazniokas describes it: “The legislation would prohibit the open carry of firearms and further tighten restrictions on military-style weapons and high-capacity magazines largely banned after the Sandy Hook school shooting. It would also target repeat gun offenders with dedicated court dockets, higher thresholds for bail and probation, and tougher penalties.”

Connecticut has been a leader in gun control legislation since the 2012 Sandy Hook tragedy. In December of that year, a 20-year-old man walked into the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut and shot and killed 26 people, including 20 children.

Last year on Memorial Day, long-time Lakeville Journal publisher Janet Manko penned a passionate editorial just after the Uvalde, Texas, school massacre, in which 19 students and two teachers were killed.

She wrote: “Americans who value gun ownership more than the lives of children will be judged by history, whether such violence occurs on the streets in urban neighborhoods where most gun deaths of young people occur, or in classrooms in suburban and rural ones. If the United States cannot find a way to overcome its love for guns, it will continue to pay too high a price in the loss of innocent lives.”

This Memorial Day, we’ll add the victims of the Sandy Hook massacre, and other senseless episodes of gun violence, to our list of remembrances. There have already been 24 school shootings this year. There have been 168 since 2018.

Jessica Rekos (age 6), Olivia Engel (age 6), Avielle Richman (age 6), Jesse Lewis (age 6), Grace Audrey McDonnell (age 7), Noah Pozner (age 6), Ana Marquez-Greene (age 6), Emilie Parker (age 6), Charlotte Bacon (age 6), Catherine Hubbard (age 6), Josephine Gay (age 7), Daniel Barden (age 7), James Mattioli (age 6), Caroline Previdi (age 6), Allison Wyatt (age 6), Dylan Hockley (age 6), Madeleine Hsu (age 6), Chase Kowalski (age 7), Jack Pinto (age 6), Benjamin Wheeler (age 6), Victoria Soto (age 27), Lauren Rousseau (age 30), Dawn Hochsprung (age 47), Mary Sherlach (age 56), Rachel Davino (age 29), Anne Marie Murphy (age 52).

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Amelia R. Wright

Falls Village – Amelia Rosalie (Betti) Wright, 91, of Falls Village died September 30, 2024 at her home surrounded by her loving family. She was the wife of the late Robert Kenneth Wright.

Amelia was born September 6, 1933 in Torrington, CT, daughter of the late Benjamin and Mary Eliza (Passini) Betti. Amelia worked at Camp Isabella Freedman as the Head Housekeeper. She was employed there for 35 years. She attended the Falls Village Congregational Church and had been very active at the Senior Center in Falls Village. She enjoyed collecting. She also enjoyed the craft classes offered by Adult Ed at the Housatonic Valley Regional High School. She enjoyed traveling, especially to the Cape, Vermont and New Hampshire. An avid flower person, Amelia had traveled to the major flower shows in both Boston and Philadelphia.

She is survived by her daughter, Susan Osborn and her husband David of Falls Village, her son, Robert H. Wright of Falls Village and her son, Donald Wright and his wife Kate of Millbrook, NY; her sister, MaryAnn Betti of Falls Village; her grandchildren, Benjamin and Katie Osborn and Jacob Wright. Amelia is also survived by her great grandson, Gunner Osborn. Amelia was predeceased by her brother, Donald Betti.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 5, 2024 in the Mountain View Cemetery, Sand Road, North Canaan, CT. Calling hours will be held at the Newkirk-Palmer Funeral Home, 118 Main Street, North Canaan, CT 06018 on Friday, October 4, 2024 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Memorial donations may be sent to the Falls Village Volunteer Ambulance Association, 188 US-7 South, Falls Village, CT. 06031

Stissing Mountain faces tough challenge in Rhinebeck rematch

Makayla Robinson, no. 3 of Pine Plains, dribbles the ball down midfield past Rhinebeck’s Ellie Firestone, no. 13, at a soccer match at Stissing Mountain High School in Pine Plains Wednesday, Sept. 25.

Photo by Nathan Miller


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Photo by Nathan Miller

MILLBROOK — A crowd of nearly 30 went undeterred by cool rain for a hike and lecture on soil ecology at the Cary Institute Sunday morning, Sept. 29.

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