Biden, Senate urge action after Colorado shooting

WASHINGTON — Urging action by the gridlocked Senate on gun law reforms, President Joe Biden on Tuesday demanded the chamber immediately pass two bills on the day after a gunman killed 10 people at a grocery store in Boulder, Colo.

Connecticut Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal spoke ardently on the reforms, as they have after every mass shooting since the Sandy Hook shootings in 2012.

Waterbury Chief of Police Fernando Spagnolo testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday — a firearms reform hearing that, as it happened, was long scheduled — that Connecticut’s gun laws, some of the toughest in the nation, were undermined by weaker federal standards.

The speeches and debates unfolded in the raw moment of anger and resolve that always follows a mass shooting.

“We’ve been through too many of these,” Biden said in a speech at the White House. “I don’t need to wait another minute let alone an hour to take common sense steps that will save lives in the future and to urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to act.”

The bills on the table would tighten federal background check laws and ban what Biden called “assault weapons” — military-style, semiautomatic firearms paired with high-capacity magazines.

Biden's press secretary said Tuesday the president is also considering a range of executive actions on gun laws. Those could reportedly include moves to tackle “ghost guns” assembled at home and law enforcement notifications when background checks fail.

Murphy insisted that now is the moment for change and suggested Tuesday he was now willing to toss out the Senate filibuster rule so Democrats can get the reforms they want without Republican votes.

Widespread support

The Boulder shooting was the second time in less than a week that the White House ordered flags to fly at half staff following a mass shooting. In Atlanta, another man shot and killed eight people, including six Asian-American women, at spas last week.

Across the country, gun sales and gun deaths increased during the pandemic. Last week, Bridgeport saw its third gun homicide of the year and second in less than seven days.

Murphy will meet with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., this week to decide a path forward on gun legislation in the Senate. Biden and Murphy both support two bills passed by the Democratic-led House of Representatives earlier this month that would require background checks for online firearm sales, at gun shows and in some private transactions.

“I don't see a lot of need to make changes to a bill that has 90 or 95 percent public support,” Murphy said. “It makes some sense to sort of test whether Republicans

really want to still be on the outside side of this issue. So I'm always willing to listen to Republicans. I've been in dialogue with them, but I don't want to be negotiating against myself when there's a proposal that is wildly popular, a political movement behind it that is growing stronger.”

Connecticut example

Democrats — often led by the Connecticut delegation — have pushed to change federal gun laws since Sandy Hook but have failed for years to reach compromise with Republicans. Asked whether he now had the political capital to get something done, Biden said “I hope so,” and crossed his fingers.

Both Murphy and Blumenthal are at the center of the gun debate, leading bipartisan Senate negotiations over background checks, so-called red flag laws to take guns from people who threaten their communities, safe storage of firearms and other reforms.

Blumenthal, who helped lead the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun laws Tuesday, said the U.S. Congress was “complicit” in the Boulder, Colorado shooting due to their inaction.

“Gun violence is an epidemic in its own right,” said Blumenthal. “We need to end this epidemic with a comprehensive nationwide approach: expanded background checks, extreme risk laws to prevent suicides, mass shooting and hate crimes, protecting domestic victims and safe storage standards. These kind of measures are in our reach.”