WASHINGTON–U.S Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Wednesday spoke on the U.S. Senate floor following the tragic shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay.

“This week the country has been riveted again by scenes of mass shootings – this time in California. I spoke on the phone to my seatmate Senator Padilla a few days ago, and it's a conversation I’ve had with the presiding officer, it’s a conversation that I have had with senators from Colorado and Virginia. We all now increasingly come from states where we have seen dozens of people murdered at one time in these horrific, horrific mass shootings,” said Murphy.

Murphy continued: “I'm proud that in the wake of the Uvalde massacre, the shooting in Buffalo, last summer, this Congress came together and finally passed after 30 years of inaction, legislation that begins to make our communities safer. But what we saw in Monterey [Park] and Half Moon Bay is confirmation, reaffirmation that we have enormous work to do.  Let me first tell you the good news. That is this: the legislation we passed last summer, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, it is saving lives as we speak.”

Murphy laid out what he learned at his visit last month to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Checks System office: “First, they are protecting the American public, [making] sure that only those that were qualified under the law, that weren't deemed to be too dangerous were getting those weapons. The second thing they were concerned about, and every single one of them told us this, they were there to uphold the Second Amendment as well. They were there to make sure of the guarantee that if you're a law abiding citizen, you can get a legal weapon. And I think all of us that visited were really impressed by the work that our background checks operators do and were confident that the bill we passed last summer is saving lives as we speak.”

“But everybody in this country knows it's not enough. Everybody in this country knows that it was just a start. And I hope this year we will be able to build on the progress we made last year to find additional common ground. Because what you are seeing in California, what you have seen all across the country are individuals, largely men, mostly younger men, whose brains are breaking. And in that moment of crisis, they are reaching for a weapon. They are seeing their path to exercise those demons as running through an episode of mass slaughter,” Murphy added.

Murphy highlighted the strength of the gun safety movement: “Americans are sick and tired of the status quo. That's why we were able to pass this law last summer. It was a start, a really important start, but it was not a result of any of the advocates in the Senate perfecting their argument. It was as a result of parents and students, families out there in America compelling Congress to do something because this country has had enough. And this country has not just had enough of the mass shootings, but of the hundred-plus people who die every day from gunshot wounds, suicides, accidental shootings, homicides, all of which can be prevented through limiting the access to dangerous people or people who are going through crisis to weaponry, in particularly weaponry of mass destruction. So I think that message from the American public that we heard last summer, it's not going away.”

Murphy concluded: “As we live amidst another moment in history where the country is recognizing the unique problem of mass shootings, as we think about 20 some odd days gone in the year with 40 mass shootings already, when we think about the fear that our kids live in when they go to school, wondering whether they'll be next and now the fear that workplaces have and churchgoers have, whether they'll be next. It's more reason for us to make 2023 a year in which we don't follow the pre-2022 precedent of doing nothing, but we follow the 2022 precedent of finding the common ground between Republicans and Democrats to make this country safer.”

This week, Murphy along with U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced the Assault Weapons Ban and the Age 21 Act. A one-pager on the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is available here.

A full transcript of his remarks can be found below:

“Madam President, this week the country has been riveted again by scenes of mass shootings – this time in California. I spoke on the phone to my seatmate Senator Padilla a few days ago, and it's a conversation I’ve had with the presiding officer, it’s a conversation that I have had with senators from Colorado and Virginia. We all now increasingly come from states where we have seen dozens of people murdered at one time in these horrific, horrific mass shootings.

“Madam President, I'm proud that in the wake of the Uvalde massacre, the shooting in Buffalo, last summer, this Congress came together and finally passed after 30 years of inaction, legislation that begins to make our communities safer. But what we saw in Monterey [Park] and Half Moon Bay is confirmation, reaffirmation that we have enormous work to do.

“Let me first tell you the good news. That is this: the legislation we passed last summer, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, it is saving lives as we speak. If you recall, that legislation set up a new background check process for younger buyers of weapons in this country. It eliminated the boyfriend loopholes so that no domestic abusers in this country can get their hands on weapons. It gave funding to states to set up red flag laws. It strengthened our background check system.

“It's a set of really important changes. And a bipartisan group of us went out to West Virginia just a few weeks ago, Senator Cornyn, Senator Tillis, Senator Capito, three Republicans, myself, Senator Manchin to see the background check system at work. We went out and sat right next to the background checks operators in their cubicles, and we watched them process these new background checks that are required because of the law that we passed. And we got briefings from the FBI in which they laid out for us the details of incredibly dangerous individuals, individuals that were in crisis, many of them under 21, who would have gotten a weapon in their moment of crisis had it not been for the legislation that we passed.

“I also saw how diligent these background checks operators were, how serious they were about their job, how proud they were of their job because they knew that in their hands they held the safety of the American public. That every time that they clicked that button, there was an individual walking out of the store with a gun and they wanted to make sure of two things. First, they are protecting the American public, [making] sure that only those that were qualified under the law, that weren't deemed to be too dangerous were getting those weapons. The second thing they were concerned about, and every single one of them told us this, they were there to uphold the Second Amendment as well. They were there to make sure of the guarantee that if you're a law abiding citizen, you can get a legal weapon. And I think all of us that visited were really impressed by the work that our background checks operators do and were confident that the bill we passed last summer is saving lives as we speak.

“But everybody in this country knows it's not enough. Everybody in this country knows that it was just a start. And I hope this year we will be able to build on the progress we made last year to find additional common ground. Because what you are seeing in California, what you have seen all across the country are individuals, largely men, mostly younger men, whose brains are breaking. And in that moment of crisis, they are reaching for a weapon. They are seeing their path to exorcise those demons as running through an episode of mass slaughter. 

“But it's important to note that this is not the only country in the world where brains break. This is not the only country in the world where people have paranoias. This is not the only country in the world with severe mental illness. And so the story of American mass murder is not a story of mental illness. It's not a story of paranoia. It's not a story of grudge or grievance because every other country has that, but only in the United States does that grudge, grievance, paranoia, and mental illness lead to mass assassination.

“And that's because in this country, we are flooded with weapons. And not just any weapons but weapons of mass destruction. These killers, they use the same set of weapons, semiautomatic weapons with attachable clips that can fire thirty, a hundred bullets out of one cartridge. They all use the same set of weapons because they're trying to kill as many people as quickly as possible. And only in this country can those individuals who have decided to take out their anger, their grudge, and their grievance through mass murder get their hands on a weapon that will allow them to do that. Other countries just don't allow that to happen.

“I’ve told this story many times before but on the same day that Sandy Hook occurred, there was an equal number of students attacked in a school in Henan Province, China. Every kid that was shot in Sandy Hook died. Why? Because, I won't describe it for you on the floor today, but the damage that a bullet fired from an AR-15 does to the body of a little child is irrevocable. It literally tears you apart, the bullet is going so fast through your body. So none of those kids survive. But in Henan Province, China, every child that was attacked survived. Why? Because in Henan Province, the attacker who was just as unhinged likely as the attacker in Sandy Hook had a knife, not a gun. Knives can do damage too, but not as much damage as an AR-15.

“And so states that are more serious about keeping assault weapons off the streets and guns away from dangerous people, they have a lot less gun crime, a lot less. Countries that are more serious about making sure that people who have these grudges, grievances, and paranoias don't get their hands on dangerous weapons, they have almost rock bottom levels of gun violence. And I think we are at a moment in time where Americans know this. Americans are sick and tired of the status quo.

“That's why we were able to pass this law last summer. It was a start, a really important start, but it was not a result of any of the advocates in the Senate perfecting their argument. It was as a result of parents and students, families out there in America compelling Congress to do something because this country has had enough. And this country has not just had enough of the mass shootings, but of the hundred-plus people who die every day from gunshot wounds, suicides, accidental shootings, homicides, all of which can be prevented through limiting the access to dangerous people or people who are going through crisis to weaponry, in particularly weaponry of mass destruction.

“So I think that message from the American public that we heard last summer, it's not going away. The good news is we found common ground. And right now in the United States Congress, you have no choice if you want to get something done, but to find common ground. We found it, and I don't think that anybody who voted for it paid any substantial political price. I think there was only political upside to supporting a compromise that was wildly popular.

“If you remember Senator McConnell showed a powerpoint presentation to the Republican Caucus in May of last year and showed his Republican colleagues how popular all the things that we voted on last summer were. Red flag laws, stopping domestic abusers from getting guns, no political downside in continuing to make progress when it comes to making our communities safer.

“And as we live amidst another moment in history where the country is recognizing the unique problem of mass shootings, as we think about 20 some odd days gone in the year with 40 mass shootings already, when we think about the fear that our kids live in when they go to school, wondering whether they'll be next and now the fear that workplaces have and churchgoers have, whether they'll be next. It's more reason for us to make 2023 a year in which we don't follow the pre-2022 precedent of doing nothing, but we follow the 2022 precedent of finding the common ground between Republicans and Democrats to make this country safer.

“I yield the floor.”

###