Murphy: Congress needs to ‘get off its ass’ and take action on gun violence

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called for Congress to “get off its ass and do something” about gun violence after a deadly Las Vegas mass shooting that left at least 58 people dead.

Murphy, who emerged as a leading figure in the push for gun control legislation after the deadly mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in his state of Connecticut, said it was “positively infuriating” that Congress had failed to pass laws to stop gun violence.

“Nowhere but America do horrific large-scale mass shootings happen with this degree of regularity. 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,” Murphy said in a statement.

{mosads}“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 said.

Murphy has been a major proponent for legislation on gun control in the Senate. He held an hours-long filibuster on the Senate floor in June 2016 to protest the body’s inaction on gun control legislation.

He also introduced a bill that same month that would expand background checks for most gun sales in the wake of the deadly mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., but the legislation failed to pass.

At least 58 people were left dead and more than 400 wounded in Las Vegas early Monday, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.