Murphy on Nevada shooting: ‘This carnage is a choice’

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) attacked his GOP colleagues for turning down gun control legislation on Wednesday, hours before a shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in which at least three people were shot.

“Today I asked my colleagues to pass my universal firearms background checks legislation. It’s supported by 90% of Americans and would save thousands of lives,” Murphy said on X, formerly Twitter. “Republicans blocked it. Three hours later, another mass shooting in UNLV.” 

“This carnage is a choice,” he continued.

The UNLV shooting occurred about noon Pacific on Wednesday. The suspected gunman was found dead at the scene, and at least three people were shot, police said. The conditions of the victims are unknown as of Wednesday afternoon.

Murphy, one of the loudest advocates for gun control legislation in the Senate, has attempted for years to pass a universal background check bill. On Wednesday, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) objected to an attempt to pass the legislation via unanimous consent.

Minutes before, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) objected to a similar attempt to pass an assault weapons ban.

“The scourge of gun violence in America is a national crisis,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the floor in support of the assault weapons ban. “The American people are sick and tired of enduring one mass shooting after another. They’re sick and tired of vigil and moments of silence for family, friends, classmates, coworkers.”

In his objection, Lee said Murphy’s bill “has some real problems with it.”  

“This is not solely about transactions involving guns at gun stores. This is about the father who wishes to pass down a hunting rifle to his son or the friend who wants to lend a shotgun to his neighbor who is in need of protection at the time,” Lee said on the floor.

A late October mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, which killed 18 people, sparked a new urgency for gun control legislation among Democrats, though efforts have garnered little to no support among Republicans.