Blumenthal & Advocates Demand Action on Red Flag Laws & Other Gun Violence Prevention Measures

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Today, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) stood with advocates from Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action to demand the Senate pass gun violence prevention legislation after nineteen children and two adults were killed in a shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

“What we see here is America rising up and saying enough is enough,” said Blumenthal. “We know what we have to do…we know what can save lives.”

Blumenthal discussed the importance of legislation including red flag laws, universal background checks, safe storage laws, and protections for domestic violence survivors.

“I wrote a red flag statute with my colleague, Senator Graham, right after Parkland, more than three years ago. There’s no mystery about taking away a firearm, a weapon from someone who shows they are dangerous to themselves or others. Someone who says I’m going to kill people or I’m going to kill myself. A red flag statute is an imperative,” Blumenthal continued. “I want to see a vote on the floor of the United States Senate on background checks and a red flag statute…I want to see where my colleagues stand.”

Standing with U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and U.S. Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Blumenthal and the advocates had a clear message for the gun lobby:

“Your days are numbered. You are on the wrong side of history and you will see your power broken simply because you have overreached,” said Blumenthal. “You no longer represent gun owners. You no longer represent even your members. You no longer represent the public interest. You are a danger to society and to America if you continue to oppose these common sense measures.” 

Video of Blumenthal’s remarks is available here. Excerpts of Blumenthal’s remarks are copied below.

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal: To the American people, this is what a political movement looks like. This is what a civil rights movement looks like. And what we see here is America rising up and saying enough is enough.

I want to thank all the leaders who are here, my colleagues, but most important, Everytown, Moms Demand Action. What we’re seeing is grassroots groups organizing, doing the work in the trenches to hold colleagues accountable.

Now, I want to say a word to the families of Uvalde, because Senator Murphy and I were at Sandy Hook on that devastating afternoon almost ten years ago when parents learned that their little children would not be coming home that night. And it leaves a hole in people’s hearts. It rips apart a community and every one of these shootings, every one of the massacres that goes to the headlines is devastating for those people and they will never fully recover. But the Sandy Hook families have shown the strength and courage to come here year after year after year, and I am in awe of the courage and strength of those survivors who have been really the wind beneath our wings as we have fought this battle and we owe them such thanks. And I thank them.

But we know what we have to do. You know, there are a lot of mysteries in this world. There are a lot of scientific questions that are difficult to discern. We know what can save lives. Background checks can save lives. Universal background checks, and I want to thank my colleague Chris Murphy for championing background checks, universal background checks. We need them.

And red flag statutes. I wrote a red flag statute with my colleague, Senator Graham, right after Parkland, more than three years ago. There’s no mystery about taking away a firearm, a weapon from someone who shows they are dangerous to themselves or others. Someone who says I’m going to kill people or I’m going to kill myself. A red flag statute is an imperative. And we have the language in draft. There’s no mystery here. And I want to see a vote on the floor of the United States Senate on background checks and a red flag statute.

The women of this country who are survivors of domestic violence are five times more likely to be killed when there’s a gun in the house. I want to see protection for domestic violence survivors, like Lori Jackson of Connecticut who perished from an estranged husband.

And innocent children every day in their own homes play with guns who were left unsecured. They’re left out in the open. Every day, kids are shot by “accident.” That’s no accident. That’s no accident. We need a safe storage law to protect them, Ethan’s Law that will protect them.

Ghost guns are one of the biggest emerging threats. Law enforcement says that they’re used to intimidate police at the local and state level. Ghost guns are untraceable, they’re mostly crime guns. We need a law that bans ghost guns, not just a presidential executive order.

So I want to see the first two votes on background checks and a red flag statute, and I want to see where my colleagues stand, and every one of them will be held accountable if they fail to vote the right way.

So we have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do, and I want to say a word to the gun lobby – your days are numbered. You are on the wrong side of history and you will see your power broken simply because you have overreached. You no longer represent gun owners. You no longer represent even your members. You no longer represent the public interest. You are a danger to society and to America if you continue to oppose these common sense measures. And breaking the grip of a bankrupt lobby that seeks to intimidate and threaten my colleagues is part of what we need to do.

And we will win. Not only, we won’t back down. We won’t back down. We’re not going away. But we will win this fight because we have you on our side. Thank you for being here. Thank you to Everytown and to Shannon Watts. Thank you.

-30-