Blumenthal Rallies With Students From Across the Country & Visits National Gun Violence Memorial to Demand Action on Gun Safety Laws

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) rallied with Students Demand Action yesterday afternoon and today joined Gabby Giffords at the National Gun Violence Memorial to urge Congress to address America’s gun violence epidemic.

Standing with U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and students from across the country in front of the Capitol on Monday, Blumenthal called on his colleagues to pass commonsense measures to save lives.

“Senators, colleagues, whether you’re Republicans or Democrats, you can’t look away…You can’t close your eyes or your ears to what’s happening in America,” said Blumenthal. “To all of my colleagues—but especially to Republicans—let me be very blunt, we’re at a put up or shut up moment. We need to act—and we need to act now. Seize this moment of opportunity.”  

As Blumenthal and his colleagues continue to discuss a path forward on gun violence prevention measures, Blumenthal stressed the importance of ensuring any bipartisan measure be consequential and meaningful, stating: 

“It won’t go as far as we like. I still have a very open mind about what we will be able to do, very clear eyed about what is possible. We’re going to keep working and trying as long and hard as possible, but we need something real and meaningful,” Blumenthal continued. “Something more than just window dressing or face-saving because America demands real and meaningful action.”

After hearing first-hand from the students, Blumenthal thanked them for their activism and efforts to prevent gun violence from becoming the norm.

“Never doubt for a moment that you are inspiring people to listen and see and hear what’s happening in America. You are our future and we need your conscience. We need your caring. And thank you for making a difference. Never doubt that you are.” 

Blumenthal and a group of his colleagues also visited the National Gun Violence Memorial on the National Mall earlier today, where Giffords has displayed over 45,000 flowers representing the increasing number of Americans dying from gun violence every year. At the Memorial, Blumenthal paid tribute to survivors and victims and shared a story about Gabby Giffords visiting Newtown in the days following Sandy Hook.

“In those first days, literally twenty-four, forty-eight hours, Gabby Giffords came to Connecticut. She came to Newtown, she came to one of the homes of relatives who lost a loved one. No cameras, no reporters, no public attention. Gabby Giffords came there, to give heart and hope to those families that gathered. Their lives broken, literally, most of them still raw with the tears and the grief of that moment. And Gabby Giffords, by her presence, by her words, by the force of her personal story, gave them heart and hope,” said Blumenthal.

“And they have been champions. The Sandy Hook survivors and families have been champions of gun violence prevention. And I want to pay tribute today to all of the survivors who continue to come forward, continue to relive their stories of horror and heartbreak. And Gabby Giffords gives them, all of them, the role model and the mentor and the example of personal courage, grace under pressure that inspires us all. So if you take nothing else away from today, it is her message: fight, fight, fight. Never, ever give up.”

Photos from the events can be found here. The transcripts of Blumenthal’s remarks from the events are available below.

Students Demand Action Rally

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT): Thank you all. What do we want to say to the United States Senate? “Don’t look away! Don’t look away! Don’t look away!” I want to hear it even louder. “Don’t look away! Don’t look away! Don’t look away!”

You know, I’ve been talking to some of the students who are here – that is a sight worth a thousand of my words. You’ve heard the old adage, a picture is worth a thousand words. Senator, colleagues, whether you’re Republicans or Democrats, you can’t look away. You can’t do this [covers eyes] or this [covers ears]. You can’t close your eyes or your ears to what’s happening in America. And you have to listen and see the voices and faces that are here because these students speak for America. They speak for America and they are going to make a difference.

To all of my colleagues—but especially to Republicans—let me be very blunt, we’re at a put up or shut up moment. We need to act—and we need to act now. Seize this moment of opportunity. Senator Murphy and I, and I’m about to introduce him, have been working on a bipartisan measure. It won’t go as far as we like. I still have a very open mind about what we will be able to do, very clear eyed about what is possible. We’re going to keep working and trying as long and hard as possible, but we need something real and meaningful. Something more than just window dressing or face-saving because America demands real and meaningful action, as you do right now.

So I just want to thank every one of you for being here today. I talked to a couple of students who told me about the multiple times that their schools are locked down. One of the students here is from Philadelphia where just over the weekend, people lost their lives, four people died in a shootout on their streets.

We can’t allow this kind of gun violence to become the norm. Your being here sends a really powerful message. Never doubt for a moment that you are inspiring people to listen and see and hear what’s happening in America. You are our future and we need your conscience. We need your caring. And thank you for making a difference. Never doubt that you are. And please keep telling us, I want to hear it again, “Don’t look away! Don’t look away! Don’t look away!”

And now I want to introduce my colleague from Connecticut, Chris Murphy who is working with us and me and has been a tireless champion, both of us as a team in the last twelve years that we’ve served in the Senate, together—Chris Murphy. 

National Gun Violence Memorial Press Conference

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT): Thank you, thank you so much. Thank you to Giffords, and to all of you for being here, and bringing us all together at this critical, really historic moment. A moment of opportunity that we must seize.

Now, I want to begin with a story about Gabby Giffords. In the days after Sandy Hook, and it was the beginning of the time that Chris Murphy and I worked together as a team and in the ten years since, in those first days, literally twenty-four, forty-eight hours, Gabby Giffords came to Connecticut. She came to Newtown, she came to one of the homes of relatives who lost a loved one. No cameras, no reporters, no public attention. Gabby Giffords came there, to give heart and hope to those families that gathered. Their lives broken, literally, most of them still raw with the tears and the grief of that moment. And Gabby Giffords, by her presence, by her words, by the force of her personal story, gave them heart and hope.

And they have been champions. The Sandy Hook survivors and families have been champions of gun violence prevention. And I want to pay tribute today to all of the survivors who continue to come forward, continue to relive their stories of horror and heartbreak. And Gabby Giffords gives them, all of them the role model and the mentor and the example of personal courage, grace under pressure that inspires us all. So if you take nothing else away from today, it is her message: fight, fight, fight. Never, ever give up.

And we know, and I’ll be very blunt, we know that the gun lobby is still out there. They are continuing to intimidate and threaten our colleagues. Republicans have yet to stand up to them. We still have an uphill battle, but we are determined to seize this moment and save lives because we have a responsibility to the American people and our own conscience, and you have created the movement. Giffords and all of these organizations have changed the political face of America in these 10 years. I’ve seen it happen. We were crying in the wilderness 10 years ago. You have changed the political dynamic and landscape and Gabby Giffords has been our leader.

And now we need to fulfill the promise of this moment. Not with window dressing or face-saving. Not with checking the box. But with real and meaningful action. And if we can do it on red flag laws and improving the background check system, and yes, mental health, school security. Why not raise the age that’s required to purchase guns? Seems to make such simple sense. All of these measures are commonsense, sensible measures, and I’ve been privileged to partner with many of the House colleagues that are here today, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, on background checks for ammunition, Adam Schiff for repeal of PLCAA, the sweetheart deal that gives gun manufacturers absolute immunity.

We need to continue to be angry and unsatisfied, because if we reach a compromise, and I’m very clear-eyed about the uphill battle and the work still to be done, but if we manage to reach an agreement, we will still have work to do. We will still have a lot of work to do on these commonsense measures, and we will continue to be in this fight.

So I want to thank you for being here today, but more importantly, for your continuing struggle, and it will be a struggle, and especially to those survivors who are here, because it is painful, it is grief-stricken, but it matters. 

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