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Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy said he’s working with the federal government to obtain terrorist and no-fly lists with the intent of signing an executive order that bans those individuals from buying guns in the state.

The announcement comes after the U.S. Senate last week rejected 54-45 a measure that would have prevented people on terrorist watch lists from being able to purchase firearms. Lawmakers have sought to impose tougher limits on gun purchases after a mass shooting on Dec. 2 that left 14 people dead at a social services center in San Bernardino, California.

Malloy was governor during a 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, that claimed 26 lives. The following year he passed gun safety legislation that banned buying and owning assault weapons. Background checks are mandated for any gun purchase in the state.

Under the executive order, people on certain federal watch lists couldn’t get a permit to purchase guns or ammunition in Connecticut, Malloy said Thursday at a press briefing in Hartford. He said he’s awaiting approval from federal authorities on the plan. Malloy, a Democrat, said he didn’t know of any other governors proposing such an action, and blamed the National Rifle Association for lawmakers’ failing to pass gun control measures in Washington.

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“If Congress does not act, we in the states will,” Malloy said. “It’s basic common sense -- the American people get it.”

Malloy’s comments echo sentiments from fellow Democrats in Congress. Senator Dianne Feinstein from California last week called the proposal to stop those on terrorist watch lists from getting guns “the definition of a no-rainer.”

Malloy, who said he came up with the plan last week, said he has reason to believe that some people who are on the watch lists live in Connecticut. He said more than 90 percent of the 2,233 people on watch lists who have tried to buy guns and explosives in the past decade have succeeded.