Blumenthal Statement on the Senate Passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] –   Today, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) applauded Senate passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act by a vote of 65-33:

After thirty years, hundreds of thousands of gun deaths and dozens of failed pieces of gun safety legislation, we have finally taken one step forward.

Ten years ago, when the Senate failed to pass background check reform after 20 beautiful, innocent children and six brave educators were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the families of those killed yelled “shame!” from the Senate Gallery. Today, when the United States Senate passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, it wasn’t shouts of “shame!” that came from the Senate Gallery; it was shouts of relief that we are finally, at long last, doing our jobs.

This is not the measure I fought for would or would have written if I were acting alone, but it marks meaningful progress. It will save lives. If you wait for everything in the Senate, you’ll get nothing – and progress is better than nothing. I am proud to have helped draft this legislation and I am proud to have voted for it.

After the activist Supreme Court once again legislated from the bench this morning and struck down a decades old gun violence prevention law, it has never been more necessary for Congress to continue to legislate for a safer America.

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