Senator Chris Murphy (Dem-CT) has revealed that President Biden “probably” did not get the needed 60 votes to approve gun control.
Murphy, who appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, shattered Biden’s hopes for an assault weapons prohibition. Murphy did, however, commend the complete gun legislation passed previously this year, claiming that banning assault weapons will cause fewer mass shootings.
“I’m delighted that President Biden would press us to vote on an assault weapons prohibition,” Murphy added. “It has already been passed by the House. It is in front of the Senate. Does it currently have 60 votes in the Senate? Most likely not. But let’s see whether we can get that number as near to 60 as we can. If we do not have the votes, we’ll talk to Sen. Schumer about returning next year with an additional senator to see if we can do better.”
“President Biden is correct,” Murphy added. “There would be fewer mass shootings in this nation if we implemented an assault weapons ban. Yes, tens of thousands of assault weapons are already in circulation. Nobody is discussing taking those firearms from people’s hands. We’re only talking about putting a halt to new sales.”
“However, if you look into some of the most high-profile mass killings in recent years, the majority of those mass shooters purchased the weapon only days before carrying out the crime,” he continued. “And so, if those weapons would have been no longer publicly available, only in the hands of individuals who had already purchased them, I believe a lot of mass shootings would’ve been avoided.”
After two recent mass killings left 11 people dead, Biden said to reporters that he wanted to campaign for an assault weapons prohibition.
“I’m sick and tired of hearing about these shootings,” Biden stated. “We need considerably tighter gun laws.”
Biden then stated that if he could acquire the votes, he planned to pass a gun control bill during the lame-duck session.
“I’ll try,” Biden responded. “I’m going to make an effort to get rid of assault weapons.”
“During the lame duck?” the reporter inquired once again.
“I’m going to do it anytime — I’ve got to make that assessment as soon as I go in and start counting ballots.”
