Newtown residents at hearing urge more gun control

Enlarge image

Credit Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson

President Barack Obama delivers a statement in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House regarding the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, Dec. 14, 2012.

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — Several hundred Newtown residents have turned out for a legislative public hearing, urging Connecticut lawmakers to impose policy changes after last month's elementary school massacre that left 20 first-graders and six educators dead.

Many in the audience at Newtown High School on Wednesday night wore stickers urging more gun control measures.

Newtown First Selectman Pat Llodra told the 52-member bipartisan task force on gun violence prevention and children's safety that she supports limits on high-capacity magazines and high-powered, military-style rifles.

Newtown Police Chief Michael Keohoe agreed, saying "this sacrifice is necessary and certainly warranted."

Newtown officials, parents of fallen Sandy Hook students and residents were the focus of Wednesday's hearing. Three task force subcommittees are reviewing possible law and policy changes affecting guns, school safety and mental health.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.