On a spring Sunday morning, television viewers watched a Connecticut senator talk about gun control. Sound familiar? Only this Sunday political conversation took place nearly 45 years ago. You’ll see it this Sunday in our Face the State flashback.
On May 30, 1968, Channel 3’s Tom Eaton interviewed Senator Abraham Ribicoff about the issues facing the state and the country during that tumultuous period in history. It took place a month after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Junior, and a week before Senator Robert Kennedy would be gunned down.
The number one song that week was “Honey” by Bobby Goldsboro, the hit movie was “the Odd Couple,” and the most watched television show was “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-in.”
The big issue of spring 1968 was Vietnam. After the Tet Offensive, opposition to the war started to ramp up, and it fueled the presidential candidacies of Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy. The weeks before the interview with Senator Ribicoff were ones of tremendous change. On March 31, 1968, President Johnson stunned the nation by announcing he would not run for re-election. On April 4, Dr. King was killed, and riots broke out across the country, including in Hartford. The call was loud and clear for lawmakers to do something to quell the unrest and to stop gun violence.
You can watch the entire interview with Senator Ribicoff this Sunday morning at 11 on Face the State, and if you want a taste of what it was like in 1968, the new season of Mad Men takes place then. The premiere ended with the case celebrating New Year’s ’68.
Categories: Connecticut history, Uncategorized
Dennis House blog 
With the liberals controlling ct. House and senate, they have their agenda from the president, unfortunately many innocent people will not be able to defend themselves as we were given the right to by our institution.
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Boy I never met more people so angry and a lot of them were police and firemen who were mad that they will be considered felons if they don’t registrar their personal weapons. THANKS DANNY BOY WHO SITS UNDER THE GOLD CAPPELA YOUR PUBLIC IS PISSED AND STILL WANT TO KNOW WE’RE THOSE 90% POLLS WERE TAKEN BECAUSE EVEYONE LAST AT THE MEETING IN NORTH HAVEN SAID NO ONE CALLED THEM OR ASKED THEM AND WERE ANY OF POLLS HALF GUN OWNERS AND OTHER HALF NON OWNERS
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