Sen. Chris Murphy calls for urgent gun reform following Texas school shooting: "We are becoming numb to this"
Sen. Chris Murphy said he's made it clear to his colleagues that he's "open for business" when it comes to advancing gun reform legislation. The Connecticut Democrat, who represented families from the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, made his plea for urgent action after at least 19 students and two adults were killed Tuesday in a Texas elementary school mass shooting.
"My hope is over the next 24, 48 hours, that there'll be 10 or 15 Republicans of good conscience that will watch what these parents are going through in Texas and come to the table and try to find some way to make sure that this doesn't happen at least as often as it does now," Murphy told CBS Mornings on Wednesday.
The legislator said he's been in communication with colleagues, including Sen. Joe Manchin, since the deadly incident with hopes of reaching mutual understanding on issues including red flag laws, background checks and limitations on who can own firearms.
"What's wild is that this issue is only controversial inside Washington D.C.," he said. "Outside Washington D.C. there's more consensus on common sense gun legislation than on almost any other topic."
Murphy said he worries Americans are "becoming numb to this," and are "accepting this as the new normal."
He challenged the idea that more guns in the country make communities safer, noting that armed police officers were outside of the Texas elementary school and were still unable to stop the gunman when he arrived.
"He had weapons that were just as, if not more, powerful than the police had," Murphy said. "Our police are out-gunned today by these shooters."
Although the politician says he does not support assault weapons for regular purchase, he said he is willing to compromise on gun reform legislation if it means ultimately reducing shootings in the nation.
"I think Democrats need to be very clear that we are not going to insist on the perfect," he said. "We are willing to compromise."
Hours after the deadly incident on Tuesday night, Murphy took to the Senate floor to emphasize his plea for gun reform, arguing that little has changed since his time representing Sandy Hook families.
"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 " By doing something, we at least stop sending this quiet message of endorsement to these killers whose brains are breaking, who see the highest levels of government doing nothing shooting after shooting."