Senator Chris Murphy on Las Vegas Shooting: ‘It’s Time for Congress to Get Off Its Ass’
The Democratic senator from Connecticut did not mince words in his call to action for Congress.
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Following the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) had some words for Congress.
“Not again. My heart is with Las Vegas this morning. Sending prayers to the victims and their families,” Murphy wrote on Twitter Monday morning.
But that was not all he had to say. Murphy later released a full statement on the tragedy.
“My heart goes out to the victims, their families, the first responders, and the entire Las Vegas community. Nowhere but America do horrific large-scale mass shootings happen with this degree of regularity,” Murphy, who represented Newtown, Connecticut at the time of the Sandy Hook massacre, said. “Last night’s massacre may go down as the deadliest in our nation’s history, but already this year there have been more mass shootings than days in the year.”
He continued, “This must stop. It is positively infuriating that my colleagues in Congress are so afraid of the gun industry that they pretend there aren’t public policy responses to this epidemic. There are and the thoughts and prayers of politicians are cruelly hollow if they are paired with continued legislative indifference.”
“It’s time for Congress to get off its ass and do something,” Murphy boldly concludes.
Sunday night, a single gunman opened fire on a country music festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. So far, 50 people have been killed with over 400 taken to local hospitals.