Sen. Chris Murphy on Sunday suggested withholding federal funds from law enforcement agencies that refuse to implement state and national gun laws within the wake of mass shootings in Colorado and Virginia.
Murphy (D-Conn.), an outspoken advocate for gun control laws and an assault weapons ban, said the Senate must have a conversation about funding law enforcement outfits that balk at implementing gun laws in “Second Amendment sanctuaries.”
“They’ve decided that they will essentially refuse to implement laws which can be on the books. That could be a growing problem on this country,” Murphy said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“And I believe we’re going to must have a conversation about that in the USA Senate. Do we would like to proceed to produce funding to law enforcement in counties that refuse to implement state and federal gun laws?” he said.
El Paso County, Co., where a person armed with an assault-style weapon killed five people at a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub on Nov. 19, is a so-called Second Amendment sanctuary, and authorities declined to pursue a “red flag” order against the accused shooter following an earlier incident involving his mother.
Chesapeake, Va., the scene of the Nov. 22 mass shooting at a Walmart wherein six employees were gunned down by a manager of the large box store, can be a Second Amendment sanctuary.
President Biden last week told reporters that he would seek a ban on assault weapons before the brand new Congress convenes after the primary of the 12 months, saying he was “sick and uninterested in these shootings.”
“The concept we still allow semiautomatic weapons to be purchased is sick. It’s just sick. It has no, no social redeeming value. Zero. None. Not a single, solitary rationale for it except profit for the gun manufacturers,” Biden said as he visited first-responders on the Nantucket Fire Department on Thanksgiving Day in Massachusetts.
But Murphy said he doesn’t think there are 60 votes within the Senate to pass a ban on assault weapons.
“I’m glad that President Biden is gonna be pushing us to take a vote on an assault weapons ban,” he said on CNN.
“The House has already passed it. It’s sitting in front of the Senate. Does it have 60 votes within the Senate immediately? Probably not. But let’s see if we are able to attempt to get that number as near 60 as possible. If we don’t have the votes, then we’ll consult with [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer and possibly come back next 12 months, with possibly an extra senator, and see if we are able to do higher,” he said.
