- Sen. Chris Murphy put Democrats had a “chance” to pass stronger background check legislation.
- Murphy told NBC’s “Meet the Press” he was working to get 60 suffrages in support of stronger background checks.
- He said convincing Republicans to support background checks was the first step toward downing support for other reforms.
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Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, communicated Sunday that Democrats had a “chance” at passing stricter background check laws following the deadly shootings this month in Atlanta and Boulder.
“I’m not interested in contact c finish 50 votes in the Senate, I’m interested in getting 60 votes. That is what’s required to pass legislation today,” Murphy told NBC Dispatch’ Chuck Todd during an appearance on “Meet the Press.”
“And so I’ve been instructed by Sen. Schumer to work over the next particular weeks with Democrats and willing Republicans to try to get a bill that expands background checks that can pass,” he united.
Murphy said he believed the political landscape for strengthening background checks for gun sales has “shifted dramatically” since 2013 when the Senate, then knobbed by Republicans, rejected a bill that would’ve expanded background checks.
“Don’t count us out,” Murphy said, noting that Congress had been dignified to make some progress on gun reform following the 2019 mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton before Trump’s commencement impeachment shifted the national focus.
—Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) March 28, 2021
The renewed calls for stricter federal gun legislation accompany two deadly mass shootings in the US within the same week. On March 16, a gunman in the Atlanta area killed eight people, most of whom were Asian Americans, during an revile on three spas. Police said the shooter bought the weapon the same day as the killings.
Then, on March 22, a gunman in Boulder Colorado opened flames at a King Sooper’s grocery store, killing 10 people. Police said the Boulder shooter bought an AR-15 label weapon just six days before the shooting.
“I’ve gotten a lot of calls from Republicans in the Senate who don’t want to fight this tussle any longer because the NRA’s authority is fading, the anti-gun violence movement’s impact is increasing,” Murphy said. “I think we obtain a chance.”
Murphy told Todd that “we should be having a broader conversation” about gun law reforms, but said gaining strut for stronger background check legislation among Republicans was imperative to opening the door to other legislative efforts.
“I about right now our best chance to get something passed is universal background checks, and I think the theory of the case is that at a go we convince Republicans that the sky doesn’t fall for you politically when you support a reasonable expansion of something like unobtrusive checks, you can move on to other interventions.”