Senator Murray Delivers Speech on Need for Gun Safety Legislation Moments Before News of California School Shooting

Statement

This morning, moments before news broke of a school shooting in Santa Clarita, California, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) decried President Trump and Senate Republicans for failing to address the gun violence epidemic that continues to plague families across America, and called for a Senate vote on bipartisan background check legislation, HR 8. Despite HR 8 passing the House more than 250 days ago, Senate Republicans have refused to hold a vote on the bill, abdicating their responsibility to address the gun violence crisis to President Trump, who last week went back on his promise to pursue gun safety legislation following several mass-shootings this summer.

"Earlier today, as my Democratic colleagues and I were on the Senate floor calling out President Trump for breaking his promise to act on gun violence and urging Majority Leader McConnell to stop blocking a vote on House-passed, bipartisan universal background check legislation, devastating news broke of yet another school shooting. My heart is shattered by this news and the knowledge that this far-too-common tragedy has now hurt more children and families," Senator Murray said in a statement following news of the shooting. "As I made clear this morning, the House passed bipartisan, commonsense gun safety legislation more than 250 days ago. There is now nothing standing in the way of this critical step except President Trump, Majority Leader McConnell, and the NRA--and Democrats are going to keep making our case and working as hard as we can for action that helps protect communities from this senseless epidemic."

The speech this morning is just the most recent step by Senator Murray in her continued push for common-sense legislation to curb gun violence, and follows another effort by the senator to push for universal background check legislation following mass-shootings in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso and Midland, Texas. Senator Murray has long been a strong supporter of gun safety reforms, and as the top Democrat on the Senate health and education committee, has repeatedly fought to invest federal resources in gun violence prevention research.

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