Democrat Chris Murphy, a representative from Connecticut, the state where the Sandy Hook massacre occurred, called for more action from his colleagues to pass laws that combat violence
The shooting this Tuesday at an elementary school in Uvalde (Texas), where 19 children and two teachers have died so far, has been condemned by the American political class, with the Democrats trying to revive the eternal debate on gun control and Republicans avoiding bringing up the subject.
“ What are we doing? We have more mass shootings than days in the year. Our children are afraid every time they step foot in the classroom in case they are next. What are we doing?” , lamented Democratic Senator Chris Murphy with a broken voice during the plenary, shortly after the news was known.
The Connecticut representative, whose emotional speech was widely echoed on networks and television channels, stressed that such a number of school shootings “only happen” in the United States and that these tragedies “are not inevitable.”
But the legislator went directly to his colleagues to demand more action and less words. “ Why spend all that time to run for the United States Senate. Why go through all the trouble to get this job, to put yourself in a position of authority if your response to the increased killing, while our children are running for their lives, we do nothing? ”, he snapped.
“This is not inevitable, these guys were not unlucky. This only happens in this country and nowhere else, nowhere else do young children go to school thinking they could be shot that day,” he added.
“ I am here on this floor to beg, to literally get on my knees and beg my colleagues: find a way forward. Please work with us to find a way to pass laws that make this less likely.
More directly, he addressed the Republican Party, which usually rejects any attempt to regulate the sale and possession of weapons, with a strong lobby from the National Rifle Association (NRA). “I understand that my Republican colleagues will not agree with everything that I may support, but there is a common denominator that we can find. There is a point where we can reach an agreement, which may not guarantee that the United States will never see a mass shooting again, which may not reduce the number of murders overnight (…) but doing something, at least we stop sending this unspoken message of support to these brain-splitting killers who see the highest echelons of government doing nothing.”
And it is that the United States Congress has spent more than two decades without significantly limiting the possession of weapons, protected in the second amendment of the Constitution.
Another statement that went viral on Tuesday was that of NBA coach Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors. “I’m not going to talk about basketball. Any question related to basketball does not matter, ”he said at a press conference. “When are we going to do something? I’m tired. I am so tired of coming up here and offering condolences to the devastated families out there. I am so tired. Excuse me. I’m sorry. I’m tired of moments of silence. Enough is enough,” he lamented in shock.
Kerr took aim against senators trying a gun control bill: “There are 50 senators right now who refuse to vote on the bill to ban gun control, which is a background check rule that the House passed a couple of years ago. It has been stored there for two years. There is a reason why they will not vote for him: to hold on to power.”
In that sense, former Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for more “legislators willing to stop the scourge of gun violence in the United States.” “Thoughts and prayers are not enough. After years of doing nothing, we are becoming a nation full of cries of anguish, ”she declared on social networks.
For his part, Democratic Congressman Dean Phillips said on social media that he owns a gun, but said the country’s founding fathers “didn’t conceive of this carnage when they wrote the Constitution.”
From the Republican ranks there were also condemnations for the massacre, but its main leaders avoided referring to the debate over gun control.
“Appalled and heartbroken by the disgusting violence against students in Uvalde, Texas. The whole country is praying for the children, the families, the teachers and the staff, ”said the leader of the Republicans in the Senate, Mitch McConnell.
The governor of Texas himself, conservative Greg Abbott, who reported the massacre, described this tragedy as a “senseless crime.”
Meanwhile, Ted Cruz, a Republican senator from Texas, said he was praying for the minors and their families, and thanked the “heroic” work of the authorities who went to the scene of the shooting.