Senator Chris Murphy rejected blaming only mental health for school shootings in the United States, saying it’s too easy to get an assault rifle to carry out mass murder.
The statement comes after 21 people, including 19 children and two teachers, were murdered in an armed attack on a Texas elementary school.
“We have no more mental illness than any other nation in the world. There is no evidence that there are more mentally ill people here than in Europe. The difference is that when people have homicidal thoughts in the United States of America, they can walk down the street to a store and get an assault weapon easier than buying a cat or a dog.” CNN.
“There is more bureaucracy involved in pet ownership in this country than there is in possession of assault weapons. So the difference is not mental illness. The difference is that people who are breaking away from reality in the United States can get their hands on a weapon of mass destruction,” she added.
Murphy also touched on the idea of putting more armed police in schools: “That sniper managed to get into the school, and unless you are literally planning to put an army battalion in every school in this country, it only takes a few minutes for an individual with a assault weapon kill 20 or 30 people”.
Connecticut’s Democratic senator, who has been vocal about gun reform since the Sandy Hook High School shooting in his state, delivered a speech Tuesday on the Senate floor criticizing fellow lawmakers for failing to do “nothing” while school shootings continue.
He pointed out to Sciutto that “we just don’t have enough Republican partners right now” to reach agreement on gun legislation, such as stricter verification to acquire guns.
This is a problem that has been endemic in the Senate”, he evaluated, adding that “maybe that will change this week”. Murphy said he refuses “to believe that this is inevitable”.
“Is this Congress going to pass anything substantial? I cannot guarantee this. I’m going to try all day today to try to find some compromise, but that depends on the voters. Voters decide that,” she noted.
“Ask your candidates this fall, ‘Do you support universal background checks, do you think 18-year-olds should have access to military-style assault weapons?’ and if they say yes, if they support the current law, if they don’t support reform, don’t send them back to Congress,” he asked.
See footage of the US elementary school attack
Source: CNN Brasil
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