Nine Years Since Sandy Hook, Murphy, Blumenthal, Advocates Honor Victims of Gun Violence, Call for Federal Action

Press Release

Ahead of the ninth anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Monday joined local gun violence prevention advocates to honor victims and survivors of gun violence, highlight successes of the anti-gun violence movement at the state and local levels, and push for commonsense gun violence prevention legislation at the federal level.

Newtown Action Alliance, Connecticut Community Violence Intervention Program, Connecticut Against Gun Violence, Moms Demand Action, and Mothers United Against Violence joined Murphy and Blumenthal in their call to honor the victims and survivors of gun violence with action. They also highlighted the $5 billion in the Build Back Better Act to invest in community violence intervention (CVI) programs that help break the cycle of violence.

"I want to applaud those standing behind because we have been able to build an integrated anti-gun violence movement in Connecticut, a movement that connects those who lost children and parents in Sandy Hook with those that have endured decades of violence in neighborhoods throughout this state," said Murphy. "[W]e know this is a question of when--not if--we pass federal legislation that will require universal background checks and get these dangerous assault weapons off the streets. But we know that for now, we need to make sure that this country doesn't lose its sense of outrage about what's going on in states. This happens in the United States and nowhere else…We choose to have the world's weakest gun laws. We choose to allow for these dangerous weapons of mass destruction to get into the hands of would-be killers. This is all a choice, and we can make a different choice."

"Connecticut has been at the forefront of achieving really important, profoundly impactful measures," said Blumenthal. "Connecticut's laws should be mirrored at the national level -- but Congress has failed to act, Congress has been complicit, and our colleagues have been remaining in the grip of the gun lobby. So we have begun the task of building a movement. Not a moment, a movement -- and we are building a movement that will move America. We're going to hold accountable elected representatives who have failed the majority of American people. We're going back to Washington to say to Congress: do your job, that's what the American people want."

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