(MCT) — NEW YORK — The state of New York on Tuesday approved legislation to curb the sale of assault weapons and ammunition, as victims of gun violence joined other protesters at a Wal-Mart parking lot in Connecticut to demand the retailer stop selling guns similar to the type used by a man who killed 20 children in Newtown, Conn.

The Democratic-controlled Assembly in Albany, N.Y., approved the bill after the Republican-majority Senate passed it about 11 p.m. Monday, making the state the first to take legislative action against gun violence since the Newtown massacre a month ago. Among other measures, the bill, which was signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, will crack down on ammunition sales and broaden the definition of assault weapons in New York to make it harder to legally possess them.