Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy
June 02, 2022
WASHINGTON–U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) authored an op-ed on FoxNews.com to lay out the state of bipartisan negotiations on gun reform and push back on the disinformation campaign about the gun violence prevention movement.
On the gun lobby’s campaign to distort his intentions to find a bipartisan compromise on commonsense gun reform, Murphy said: “[T]he campaign had begun to try to make conservative gun owners believe my offer wasn’t sincere – that I really had a secret agenda to take people’s guns away. That isn’t true. That’s never been true. I believe that the Second Amendment protects a citizen’s right to buy and own firearms. But I also believe that like every constitutional right, there are limits. I don’t believe the Constitution protects the right of criminals or people with serious mental illness to own weapons. And while all of us might draw the line in a different place, I think we all agree that the Constitution allows Congress to decide which weapons are so dangerous as to be kept exclusively in the hands of the military.
Murphy laid out what he’s willing to support: “[I] also acknowledge that in order to find common ground, I will need to agree to a smaller set of reforms than I would prefer. I’m willing to pass incremental change, like tightening up our background checks system and helping states pass laws to allow law enforcement to temporarily take guns away from individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others. I’m also very supportive of providing more mental health resources to help young men in crisis and more funding to pay for security upgrades at our schools.”
Murphy highlighted the popularity of those reforms: “The changes I’m suggesting aren’t radical. Almost 90 percent of people – including Republicans and gun owners – support requiring background checks on all gun sales. You’d be hard-pressed to find something more Americans can agree on – not even apple pie is that popular. Red flag laws and investments in mental health are just as popular.”
Murphy concluded: “Shooting after shooting after shooting has proved our current system is broken. There’s no perfect antidote that will save every life, but even a small step forward will save thousands. My Republican colleagues and I don’t agree on much, but this time, I’m hopeful we can agree on this: inaction cannot be our answer.”
You can read the full op-ed here.
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