HARTFORD, Conn. - Connecticut U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, who came to Congress representing Sandy Hook, begged his colleagues to finally pass legislation addressing the nation’s gun violence problem as the latest school shooting unfolded Tuesday in Uvalde, Texas.A gutted Murphy took to the Senate floor and demanded lawmakers do what they failed to do after 26 elementary school students and educators were killed almost a decade ago in Newtown, Connecticut.
Congress has been unable to pass substantial gun violence legislation since the collapse of a bipartisan Senate effort in the aftermath of that massacre.Murphy, a Democrat, urged his colleagues to finally find a compromise."Our heart is breaking for these families.
Every ounce of love and thoughts and prayers we can send, we are sending," said Murphy, who represented Newtown as a U.S. congressman."But I’m here on this floor to beg — to literally get down on my hands and knees and beg my colleagues.
Find a path forward here. Work with us to find a way to pass laws that make this less likely," he said."I just don’t understand why people here think we’re powerless," Murphy told reporters. "We aren’t."RELATED: Arizona congressman blasts Ted Cruz’s comments against gun control following Texas elementary school shootingEven as President Joe Biden’s party has slim control of Congress, gun violence bills have languished in the face of Republican opposition in the Senate.Last year, the House passed two bills to expand background checks on firearms purchases.