Blumenthal credits Murphy with ‘explosive breakthrough’ leading to gun-safety proposal
HARTFORD — The potentially historic gun safety deal in the U.S. Senate could mean fewer illegal guns smuggled into Connecticut, as well as more money to promote public education of the state’s so-called Red Flag law that lets the public help remove firearms from people who threaten themselves or others.
But U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal on Monday warned that even though 10 Republicans in the Senate support the compromise gun-safety legislation, the two weeks leading into the July 4 recess are critical in continuing the momentum that has been made during the last three weeks of intense bipartisan negotiations.
“The statute will sort of elevate the criminal penalty for trafficking but for straw purchasing right now, federal law really treats it as a paperwork violation,” Murphy said of the tactic in which one person buys a firearm for another. “The penalty for that is never significant enough to get that individual to give up who’s behind the straw purchase. And these straw-purchasing rings are enormous. It’s how many of the guns get onto the streets of Hartford and Bridgeport and New Haven.”
The proposal would create a new federal criminal penalty for straw purchasing. “You will unlock investigatory pathways to get to the bottom of a lot of these networks,” Murphy said during a morning news conference in the State Capitol complex with state gun-safety advocates. “And that’s what law enforcement has told us.”
“Penalties reflect priorities,” Blumenthal said, stressing that federal agencies would elevate their enforcement efforts in what is called the Iron Pipeline from easy-access states like South Carolina and Georgia. “The increase in penalties will create major incentives for law enforcement as well as investment of resources.”
Even though Connecticut was the first state to enact the Red Flag law in 1999, much of the public remains unaware of its use to disarm people, the lawmakers said.
“There aren’t enough first responders and police officers that know how to use it.” Murphy said. “Connecticut will get money — big money — that will help us implement this Red Flag law.” Blumenthal said the recent expansion of the law, to make it easier for people
“The statute will sort of elevate the criminal penalty for trafficking but for straw purchasing right now, federal law really treats it as a paperwork violation. The penalty for that is never significant enough to get that individual to give up who’s behind the straw purchase. And these straw-purchasing rings are enormous. It’s how many of the guns get onto the streets of Hartford and Bridgeport and New Haven.” U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., of the tactic in which one person buys a firearm for another
to report potentially dangerous people, could become a model for states throughout the country.
“This has to be in the state courts,” Murphy said. “No state has to adopt it, but I guarantee you that more states will adopt more Red Flag laws when there’s money behind it, and when we depoliticize these laws. These laws often get hung up not because of money but because of politics. Once we show states that there is big Republican support from some of the most high-profile Republicans in the country for Red Flag laws, there’ll be renewed support to pass them at the state level.”
Murphy and Blumenthal said that a change in the usually solid wall of Republican opposition to new gun control measures apparently occurred when senators returned to their states over the Memorial Day holiday and met with constituents representing a wide spectrum, who were fed up with the daily carnage from gun violence. The last meaningful federal gun-safety legislation was 26 years ago.
“This has been an emotional weekend for me and a lot of people,” said Murphy, the author of the 2020 book “The Violence Inside Us: A Brief History of an Ongoing American Tragedy,” which focused on firearms in the United States. “This bill will not end the epidemic of gun violence overnight. This bill doesn’t include everything that Dick and I support, but it is substantial, it is significant, it will save lives and it will provide us the momentum to make further changes.”
Jeremy Stein, executive director of Connecticut Against Gun Violence, said it’s a proud moment for advocates, lawmakers from around the nation, as well as Connecticut residents. He said he’s weary of speaking with the parents of dead children who might have been victimized by a paralyzed Congress.
“I’m tired of explaining why our children are being sacrificed to the gun industry,” Stein said, recalling the massive gun-safety legislative signed into law by then Gov. Dannel Malloy in early 2013, less that four months after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. “This is a historic moment, don’t mistake that because maybe this is the time that Congress will finally realize what we’ve already known right here in Connecticut: that gun laws work.”
Among the items in the tentative deal would be a requirement that gun purchasers under the age of 21 submit to background tests and waiting periods before they would be allowed to make a firearms purchase. The legislation would also close the so-called boyfriend loophole, to allow firearms to be taken from dating partners, expanding it beyond married spouses.
Blumenthal said that “an explosive breakthrough” occurred in the bipartisan talks when Murphy helped double the number of GOP negotiators to 10, who ended up in the group of 20 negotiators who reached the initial agreement on Sunday. While declining to issue details beyond the broad strokes that have to be written in the form of a bill, the senators said there are as yet no details on penalties or funding commitments.
“It says volumes about where this country is going, and it’s a good thing,” Blumenthal said. “I think just keeping everyone talking to each other, not making any particular provision a deal breaker, I think was very important.”
Murphy said that attacking the flow of guns into the state’s cities is crucial. “For both of us, this is all about Connecticut,” Murphy said, stressing that urban gun violence in Black and brown communities is relentless.
Murphy said that the mental health components of the Red Flag proposal are very important. “Connecticut, you know, we need more mental health resources,” he said. “We need more clinicians. We need more clinics. We need more counselors in our schools. Connecticut is going to get a lot of money under this bill for the expansion of mental health.”
Blumenthal said that the 18-year-old shooter at the Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket might have been rejected if the New York State background law had been more effective. “That’s why that Buffalo shooter got the gun,” he said. “The best law in the world, if it isn’t effectively enforced, is a dead letter. There’s no understating the importance of that mental health investment.”
State Senate President Martin Looney, D-New Haven, said that any steps forward in Washington on the issue of gun safety are important progress. “It’s certainly far less what the moreadvanced states like Connecticut have done on this issue, but for Washington, given its history of complete gridlock, to be able to get off the dime and get something done, is a sign of hope.”