Chris Murphy: Democracy Doesn’t Work When It Comes to Gun Violence

DÍAZ-BALART: “And joining me now, from Capitol Hill, Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy. Senator, thank you for being with me this morning.”
MURPHY: “Sure. Thanks.”
DÍAZ-BALART: “You support toughening gun laws. But, realistically given the past, I mean, you know, there have been children shot in schools. You know, in clinics people have been killed, point blank. It seems as though, nothing really can — can get done.”
MURPHY: “Yeah. [indecipherable] lived through the Sandy Hook experience. It is hard to figure out how if Sandy Hook didn’t move Congress to action on banning military style assault weapons, like those that were used in the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. How anything else would be more powerful? That being said, you just can’t ignore the mounting evidence that something different is happening in this country, than any other country in the world. The rate of shootings here is just unparalleled, and the fact is that 90 percent of Americans, 90 percent of gun owners, support some common-sense changes to our gun laws. And I just don’t know that democracy works with it being so out of step, with Congress being so out of step with public opinion. So listen, I think we have to be honest that the response to these shootings is multisystemic. It’s not just about gun laws. It’s also about mental health. It’s also about law enforcement. But, what’s so offensive to me is that we do nothing. Congress doesn’t attempt to have any debate about how to fix this in the wake of these tragedies. And I just don’t think that people are going to get re-elected to Congress if they are totally utterly silent, after each one of these tragedies.”