HARTFORD–U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Tuesday joined gun violence prevention advocates in Hartford to call for action on gun safety legislation following the tragic shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

“I wish this country was willing to step up and have a conversation about the epidemic of gun violence every single day. But the reality is these mass shootings, they are more jarring when 19 children die at one time. For good reason, this country is shaken in a very specific and unique way. And we have to accept that it is during these moments that the opportunity for change is the most acute. So Senator Blumenthal and I are here to tell you that we are hearing more interest in talking about real change, changes in our gun laws, more support for mental health services than at any point since the shooting in Sandy Hook,” said Murphy.

Murphy continued: “I have had the football pulled out from under me enough times before in these negotiations to be realistic about our prospects for success. But we are going to work every single minute of every single day over the course of this week and next week to try to get enough of our Republican colleagues to yes. I hope they are moved by what they have witnessed in the way that the rest of this country has been moved. But make no mistake, we’re going to have a debate in the United States Senate. We're going to take votes in the United States Senate on tightening our nation's gun laws with or without our Republican colleagues.”

“We don't have to end the epidemic of gun violence in this nation with one piece of legislation. What we need to do is break this logjam, but break this logjam with a piece of legislation that's going to save lives, not a piece of legislation that is just going to check boxes…Progress is my goal, but progress that is going to save lives right now, and I believe that we can get that done. I’m sober-minded about our chances. I know that history is normally predictive of the future, but my hope is that the increased number of people willing to talk matters,” Murphy concluded.

“As I went around the state this weekend at Memorial Day ceremonies and parades, the most common – the most passionate – comment to me was ‘do something.’ Americans are saying, ‘do something.’ Inaction is not an option. Inaction is complicity,” said Blumenthal.  “It’s a put up or shut up time for the United States Senate.”

“We’re developing compromises right now. Literally moments ago I was on the phone to Republican colleagues forging – or seeking to do it – a compromise on various aspects of, for example, red flag laws,” Blumenthal continued. “But compromise requires commitment. And my hope is that we are on the verge of a step, a bipartisan step. I’m more hopeful than ever since Sandy Hook that we can take that step, which could well lead to other steps. Because once we open the door to action, others may follow.”

“We need to do what is within our power, and that is to prevent similar kinds of incidents – whether they are at schools or theaters or houses of worship. Over the forty-eight hours of this weekend, there were twelve mass shootings. People died. None of them in the headlines. And the hundred people – actually more than one hundred – that die every day are part of the epidemic of gun violence in this country even though there is no mass reporting about them,” Blumenthal concluded.

###