The deaths of 20 first-graders and six adults at Sandy Hook two years ago provoked a national debate on Second Amendment rights and gun control. Connecticut overhauled state gun laws with legislation described as the "toughest in the nation," but federal efforts to restrict gun ownership fell flat amid backlash from angry gun owners who said that their Second Amendment rights were under attack. Other statehouses responded to Newtown by passing laws to expand rather than restrict gun rights.