By Kevin Daley
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy blamed Congress for Sunday’s terrorist attack at a nightclub in Orlando which left 50 people dead and 53 injured.
“This phenomenon of near constant mass shootings happens only in America – and no place else,” he said in a statement. “Congress has become complicit in these murders by its total, unconscionable deafening silence.”
The Connecticut Democrat has been one of the most vocal gun control proponents, frequently taking to Twitter to fire off 140 character screeds against the National Rifle Association and other opponents of gun control. He spent New Years Eve 2015 tweeting details of every mass shooting that had taken place in the United States in 2015. He claimed there were at least 372 such incidents, citing data from shootingtracker.com and a Reddit thread called “rGunsAreCool.”
2015 started in the early hours of January 1st when 5 people were shot on a New Year’s Eve party bus in Memphis.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) December 31, 2015
He pressed his argument further Sunday morning via Twitter, saying congressional failure to pass comprehensive gun control legislation manifested a tacit endorsement of gun violence.
Congress’s heartless, intentional silence has become a quiet message of endorsement to would be shooters contemplating mass murder.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 12, 2016
Reports indicate the alleged shooter has been identified as Omar Mateen, a Florida resident said to have ties to radical Islam.