The GOP wants to substantially reduce the number of background checks done in this country.
By Alexander Bolton
Senior Reporter
The Hill
Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Thursday blocked a request to proceed to legislation passed by the House in March to expand background checks for gun sales, a priority that has languished in Congress for years.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a leading advocate for gun control legislation, asked for unanimous consent to proceed to the House bill, citing the recent school shooting in Michigan that left four students dead.
“I want to tell you why I’m making this request. I understand the low likelihood of success, but I hope many of my colleagues took a minute to watch the cellphone video from the school shooting in Michigan,” he said on the Senate floor, calling the footage “absolutely terrifying to watch.”
Murphy recounted the chilling surveillance footage of 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley emerging from a bathroom with a 9mm Sig Sauer SP 2022 pistol with a 15-round magazine and firing at classmates and teachers.
“All of those kids who fled that violence, all of those kids who now don’t think of school as a safe place, they are going through trauma and will go through trauma that will take a lifetime to address,” Murphy said.