U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy calls his congressional colleagues “cowards” for failing to act on gun control.

Washington — Connecticut Democrats were among the first to renew calls for Congress to act on gun control after a mass shooting in Las Vegas late Sunday left at least 59 dead and more than 500 wounded.

The attack by a lone suspect, Stephen Paddock, 64, considered the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, fueled a new round of calls for stricter federal gun control measures, pitting those who want more restrictions in place against staunch defenders of Americans’ right to carry firearms.

“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,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., in a statement. “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 also tweeted, “To my colleagues: your cowardice to act cannot be whitewashed by thoughts and prayers.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said he is “more than frustrated, I am furious.”

Since the massacre of 20 first-graders and six educators in Newtown in December 2012, Connecticut’s lawmakers have been on the forefront of the gun safety campaign in Congress.