Sen. Chris Murphy: Mass Shootings Are Congress' Fault

"We are responsible for a level of mass atrocity that happens in this country with zero parallel anywhere else."

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) addressed his colleagues on Wednesday after a shooter opened fire at a South Florida high school, leaving at least 17 people dead.

Murphy, a fierce gun control advocate who had just been elected to the Senate when the Sandy Hook massacre took place in his home state, blamed congressional inaction for the events that unfolded in Parkland, Florida.

“This happens nowhere else other than the United States of America,” he said. “This epidemic of mass slaughter ... it only happens here not because of coincidence, not because of bad luck, but as a consequence of our inaction.”

Pointing to himself and his colleagues, he continued, “We are responsible for a level of mass atrocity that happens in this country with zero parallel anywhere else.”

Since 20 students and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, were killed in December 2012, Murphy has dedicated his legislative career to fighting for gun control. Congress has failed to pass any gun control reforms since Sandy Hook, but Murphy continues to push the issue. He told HuffPost last year that he wouldn’t consider himself successful until he delivered some progress.

In Florida, law enforcement said a suspect, identified as Nikolas Cruz, was in custody.

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