Murphy, Blumenthal tout bipartisan cooperation on gun bill

Jun. 14—HARTFORD — During a news conference Monday, U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal touted the bipartisan framework that led to agreement on a gun control bill over the weekend while cautioning that there are still hurdles to clear before the legislation is signed into law.

The senators stood with gun control advocates during the morning news conference at the state Legislative Office Building and elaborated on the framework that was agreed upon by 10 Democratic and 10 Republican senators and announced Sunday. The legislation has not been written yet, but the framework includes gun restrictions as well as provisions related to mental health and school security.

"We are very proud to have an agreement between 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats in the Senate to pass the most significant piece of anti-gun legislation in nearly 30 years," Murphy said. "This is indeed a breakthrough moment for the anti-gun violence movement, for survivors, for parents and for advocates."

Murphy acknowledged that there is a lot of work to do to get 60 senators on board, and that the bill doesn't go as far in restricting access to guns as he, Blumenthal and other Democrats wanted.

"But it is substantial, it is significant, it will save lives," he said.

"We're in for a tough, tenacious fight ahead," Blumenthal said. "No one should assume right now that this will be a slam dunk. On the contrary, the gun lobby is mobilizing for a fight. But we can make progress and most important, we can save lives."

Despite decades of partisan gridlock on the issue of gun access, Blumenthal said, "This time is different. Never before in the last 30 years have so many Republicans been at the table."

Though the resulting policies have not included measures such as universal background checks or raising the required age to buy a gun to 21, Blumenthal said he was happy to come to a compromise.

"Here is the brutal hard truth. America is divided on the issue of guns," Blumenthal said. "We need to save lives, we need to get something done. That is what Americans are telling every Senator, Republican or Democrat. 'Do something.' "

Murphy said his party's goal is to get the legislation written and passed within the next two weeks.

"We don't have 60 votes yet, we have 20. We still have to go and sell this to our Republican and Democratic colleagues," Murphy said. "This framework is receiving lots of support, but is also receiving criticism from both the left and the right, as any good compromise should."

The bill, which the senators said is in the process of being written, is expected to include federal funding to build red flag laws, which are meant to keep weapons away from people who've been determined by a court to be a danger to themselves or others. Blumenthal and South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham have been working on a red flag law bill for years.

Despite their starkly different voting records, "On this point we agree that people who say they are going to kill themselves or others should be separated from their guns at least temporarily with due process by a court that hears solid evidence from law enforcement," Blumenthal.

The bill would close the "boyfriend loophole," which allows men who are convicted of assault against their girlfriend to continue to buy weapons. (Spouses are no longer allowed to buy weapons in similar cases.) The bill includes the requirement of a more rigorous background check for buyers under 21 years old. It would include a federal prohibition on gun trafficking, as well as straw purchasing, which is when someone who is able buys a gun for someone else who would fail a background check, for example. And it will include an update to background check statutes to "make sure everyone involved in the repeated sale of firearms has to perform background checks," Murphy said.

The legislation will also include billions of dollars to enhance mental health and school security throughout the country.

The Rev. Henry Brown, a Hartford activist, urged people to remember the daily gun violence that takes lives even if it doesn't get the news media attention of mass shootings in schools, such as recent shooting at a school in Uvalde, Texas, and the Sandy Hook shooting.

"Don't forget about the urban community in this movement. Too many of our young Black and brown kids getting murdered every day," Brown said. "For 24 years, I've been fighting against gun violence, and I've never seen anything this significant in 24 years. ... But you can't get relaxed, you can't sit down. We have not accomplished anything yet. Until the bill is signed and comes to fruition, then we can celebrate."

Jeremy Stein, the executive director of Connecticut Against Gun Violence, said, "I really don't want to talk to more parents whose children have been murdered by inaction in Congress."

Stein referenced the Columbine, Parkland and Sandy Hook school shootings.

"What are we doing to prevent these kinds of deaths? I'm tired of having to explain why our children are being sacrificed to the gun industry," he said

State Rep. Anthony Nolan, D-New London, who stood behind Murphy and Blumenthal at the news conference Monday, weighed in after the fact on what it means to shore up school security. Nolan, a New London police officer, was also once a school resource officer. Nolan responded to Murphy pointing out in recent weeks that more police officers in school means more kids of color are getting arrested.

"That is a big concern, and data shows it," Nolan said Monday. "Black and brown kids have a higher rate of arrest in schools, and we have to come to an understanding as to the duties and responsibilities of law enforcement. I was an SRO for numerous years — I had a different relationship with the kids. I didn't believe that arrests were the answer to disciplinary problems. That changed a little bit, and that's one of the reasons I came out the school, because I didn't feel like that was the proper way to go when it came to kids."

"We have some teachers who don't realize that sometimes when you call an officer instead of the school staff, it creates a different agenda," Nolan added. "There has to be some kind of agreement if law enforcement goes back into the school. There has to be a higher level of training for officers to be in the school."

The House passed more comprehensive and progressive gun-related legislation last week. It remains to be seen whether the House would support the Senate's possible legislation.

s.spinella@theday.com