US Senator Murphy implores lawmakers to act on guns after Texas school massacre

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations hearing to examine US-Russia policy on Capitol Hill, Washington, U.S., December 7, 2021. Alex Brandon/Pool via REUTERS

WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) – Democratic U.S. Senator Chris Murphy on Tuesday implored his colleagues to act to combat gun violence hours after a mass shooter killed 14 Texas schoolchildren, dismissing a common Republican argument by say, “Spare me the shit about mental issues.” illness.”

Murphy, who before his election to the Senate represented the Connecticut congressional district where a gunman killed 26 young children and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, urged his colleagues to craft legislation to restrict the proliferation of weapons. .

“I just don’t understand why people here think we’re powerless,” Murphy told reporters after a speech on the fire floor. “It’s just not a coincidence that we’re the deadliest high-income nation in the world and we have the most relaxed gun laws. You know, guns flow in this country like water. And that’s why we have mass shooting after shooting.” massive”.

Previous efforts to pass new federal gun restrictions failed after the Sandy Hook shooting, a 2017 attack on Republican members of Congress playing baseball and an attack just 10 days ago at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store.

Many Republican lawmakers, who generally oppose new gun restrictions, have argued after previous attacks that the United States must do more to end mental illness, which may boost some shooters.

“Spare me the crap about mental illness,” Murphy said, anticipating that response to Tuesday’s massacre, which killed a teacher and 14 students. read more “We don’t have more mental illness than any other country in the world. You can’t explain this through the lens of mental illness because we’re not an outlier when it comes to mental illness… We’re an outlier when it comes to of access to firearms and the ability of criminals and the very sick to obtain firearms. That’s what makes America different.”

The US Supreme Court is expected to rule in the coming weeks on a case that could greatly expand the right to carry concealed firearms, in a challenge to a New York state law that it says opponents, violates the right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment to the US Constitution.

Murphy said he would be happy to work on a bipartisan solution, saying a bill needed to “show progress” and not necessarily be a perfect legislative solution.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis said lawmakers should look at “reasonable steps” to reduce threats to communities.

“I’m happy to see anything as long as it doesn’t deny anyone the rights of law-abiding citizens,” he told reporters.

Information from Makini Brice; additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Jane Ross; Edited by Scott Malone and Leslie Adler

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