Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) told MSNBC on Thursday he does not believe the root cause of mass shootings in the United States is related to issues surrounding mental health, despite many mass shooters having issues with their mental health.
Murphy has long been a gun control advocate in the Senate and he has been spurred to push more gun control legislation in the aftermath of the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 children and two teachers dead.
"Oh, I absolutely think our partners are negotiating in good faith. You know, Senator Cornyn is a friend. He has been moved as anyone would be by what has happened in his state. And what we’re looking at is, you know, a proposal that is both an investment in our mental health system and changes in our gun laws. I don’t believe our mass shooting problem is first and foremost a mental health problem," said Murphy.
"We have no more mental illness in the United States than any other nation. It’s just in this country if you’re having homicidal thoughts, you can easily get your hands on a weapon of mass destruction as opposed to every other high-income nation this the world," he continued. "But I do think our partners understand that we’ve got to do both. We’ve got to invest in mental health and we’ve got make some commonsense changes to our gun laws that are completely consistent with the Second Amendment to just make sure dangerous people don’t get their hands on weapons."
Murphy has been leading the bipartisan talks with members of the Senate for a gun control package and teased how the" momentum" is "building."
Today a group of eight bipartisan Senators met to continue negotiations on a gun violence bill that can get a broad, bipartisan vote in the Senate. This follows a similar meeting yesterday.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 1, 2022
There is growing momentum to get something done and we agreed on a plan to keep working.