Governor Dannel Malloy doesn’t want to give any attention to those who refuse to believe the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was real.
The governor said in a society with 24 hour news and instant access to social media, every opinion carries some level of weight, which he doesn’t like.
"We live in a world where having an opinion, even one that you know is not true, brings to you some attention, some light," Malloy told NBC Connecticut. "I think in many ways I think we live in a knowledge and truthfulness corrupted world where knowledge and truthfulness are not what’s required to get your fifteen minutes of fame."
The comments come just days before an interview between NBC News’ Megyn Kelly and "InfoWars" Founder and Host Alex Jones will air. Jones has embraced conspiracy theories including that the tragedy and Sandy Hook and the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 were carried out by the government.
Malloy said the mass shooting in Newtown in December 2012 was unlike any other in American history because of the young victims.
"How lethal it was and how by and large babies, tiny children, and that has its impact on folks. It was senseless and it was committed by someone known in the community," Malloy said.
The governor said he wants the legacy of Sandy Hook to be that more common sense gun legislation leads to safer streets. Gun crime has been on the decline since 2013 when the Connecticut General Assembly approved new laws with restrictions on gun purchases, ammunition and mandates for background checks.
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New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts adopted similar laws in the aftermath of Sandy Hook.
Even with that, the governor says there is still more work to do to keep people safe.
"The idea that you can still buy a gun at a gun show is an incredibly scary proposition," the governor said. "We now know that ISIS tells people that if they want to acquire a gun in America, go to a state that allows gun sales without background checks. I mean, how stupid do we have to be?"
As for the families that are living without their children, Malloy said they’ve become some of the strongest advocates for important causes and they deserve to be respected and listened to across the country.
"I think the families have been incredible, courageous and hardworking and supportive of one another for the most part and supportive of community for the most part and then some of these folks have just gone an extra distance to really advocate on behalf of children, on behalf of mental health issues and on behalf of making sure that sick and deranged people, or people with ill-intentions don’t get guns, so they have been marvelous and in many ways triumphant in at least their heroism," Malloy said.
