During Wednesday’s CNN “New Day,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sounded off on his recent back and forth with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) over the “theater” used by both sides of the aisle in reaction to the Boulder, CO shooting.
Blumenthal said the GOP is engaging in “theater” by “offering thoughts and prayers and then blocking real action that can save lives” as they push back on stricter gun laws. He emphasized the need for “federal action” to prevent future gun violence.
“My answer to Senator Cruz, and I’ve said it numerous times, is the theater here is offering thoughts and prayers and then blocking real action that can save lives. I believe in thoughts and prayers, but the way to honor them is to move forward with improved background checks and extreme risk warrants, safe storage laws that separate dangerous people from guns.”
He continued, “You know, the shooter in Atlanta, without a weapon, was a misogynist and a racist. But armed with a firearm, he was a mass murderer and a monster. The killer in Boulder was a deeply disturbed man who walked into a grocery store with a military-style automatic weapon that made him a killer. And in domestic violence, in suicides, the presence of the gun makes death all the more likely — probably fatal and irreversible. So, we know that separating dangerous people from guns can save lives. We’ve proved it in Connecticut with some of the strongest gun laws in the country, but we’re at the mercy of the states with the weakest laws because guns really have no respect for state boundaries. And that’s why we need federal action.”
Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent
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