Happy Opening Day to you all in the Tampa Bay area. Yesterday was a wondrous day around the country as Major League Baseball began its 2013 season, with the Rays opener scheduled at 3:10 p.m. today. Read more about my thoughts on the upcoming season here.

Yesterday the Connecticut Legislature passed sweeping proposals to stop gun violence, including: the country's first statewide dangerous weapon offender registry, a new "ammunition eligibility certificate," an immediate universal background checks for all firearms sales, and an extension of the state's assault weapons ban to 100 new types of firearms.

The move freaked out Matt Drudge so much he put up a huge banner headline this morning on his site that reads, "NEED AMMO? WHERE'S YOUR ELIGIBILITY CERTIFICATE?"

But while those who support gun control legislation may be pleased with what happened in the Nutmeg state, you have to question its effectiveness in what the laws are in an adjoining state. I was in California the day after the Newtown massacre last December, and the press immediately focused on the fact that while California has some of the strongest gun laws in the nation, they aren't too significant when people can easily cross state lines to purchase guns in the neighboring Nevada, which has much looser laws.

That's an argument for federal, not state, laws when it comes to regulating guns. But as you no doubt have been following in the news, there's no guarantee of any type of gun legislation coming out of Congress this year.

What about on the local level? I sat down with Hillsborough County Commissioner Les Miller yesterday. The former Tallahassee lawmaker filed a number of gun-control bills while in the Legislature, but in January he rejected a proposed gun buyback program for Hillsborough County.

In Tallahassee yesterday, a Senate subcommittee moved along that controversial parent trigger bill.

And the HART board heard a presentation about possible plans to create BLTs. No, I'm not talking about sandwiches, I'm talking about Bus Toll Lanes.

This article appears in Mar 28 – Apr 3, 2013.