Sandy Hook Commission Convenes Today For The First Time

A Sandy Hook commission is convening today in Connecticut for the first time, to address the issue of school security in the wake of a tragic mass murder in Newtown last month.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy announced the Sandy Hook commission earlier this month, and at the time, indicated that the state sought answers to explain the myriad factors leading up to the massacre at the Newtown elementary school in December.

According to Malloy, several aspects of the Sandy Hook shooting will be examined, and he explained at the time:

“Shortly after the initial horror and the immediate grief over what occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, there was one question on the lips of many of our residents: How do we make sure this never happens again?”

Malloy continued:

“… This commission will look for ways to make sure our gun laws are as tight as they are reasonable, that our mental health system can reach those that need its help and that our law enforcement has the tools it needs to protect public safety, particularly in our schools.”

The 16-member panel is officially called the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission, and among those involved are former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter and University of Virginia School of Law Professor Richard Bonnie, who have dealt respectively with similar gun massacres at Columbine and Virginia Tech in the past.

The Sandy Hook commission meets today in Hartford, Connecticut, and Malloy indicates that in part, the “biggest challenge is to get us a set of recommendations that we can work with legislatively, and get at least a preliminary out by mid-March.”