HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut lawmakers were expected to approve sweeping new restrictions on weapons and large-capacity magazines Wednesday, a response to the Newtown school shooting that will give the state some of the country’s tightest gun-control laws.

The December massacre of 26 people inside Sandy Hook Elementary School, which reignited a national debate on gun control, set the stage for changes here that may have been impossible elsewhere: The governor, who personally informed parents that their children had been killed that day, championed the cause, and legislative leaders, keenly aware of the attention on the state, struck a bipartisan agreement they want to serve as a national model.