Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) ended his 14 hour and 50 minute filibuster on the Senate floor at nearly 2 a.m. Thursday when GOP leaders agreed to hold a vote on legislation to extend background checks to all gun sales and to ban people on the “terror watch list” from buying firearms.
As he left the floor, Murphy said that a compromise had been reached. “We did not have that commitment when we started today,” he said.
I am proud to announce that after 14+ hours on the floor, we will have a vote on closing the terror gap & universal background checks
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 16, 2016
A leading gun control advocate in the Senate, Murphy began his filibuster — the eighth longest in U.S. history — at 11:21 am on Tuesday. As he stood behind his desk without moving, as Senate rules require, he was joined on the floor by 38 of his colleagues, including Republican Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE), who asked a question about the “terror gap,” and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA). Several other Democrats, including Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), remained on their feet almost the entire time.
“We’ve gotten to a place where we’re going to get votes on these important amendments,” Murphy said shortly before 1:30 a.m Thursday. “What would’ve been unacceptable is to spend this entire week on legislative business that was irrelevant to the epidemic of gun violence that has been made more real than ever.”
The Senate will now likely vote on a measure introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to bar those on federal terror watch lists from obtaining guns and a bill from Murphy and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to close the background check loophole that currently allows people to purchase firearms freely at gun shows and over the internet.
Senate Democrats have not yet formally struck a deal for the compromise vote. But based on the voting records of their Republican colleagues, many of whom have taken large amounts of money from the National Rifle Association, any reform is likely to be small. While the Democrats held the floor, Senate Republicans tweeted about terrorism and ISIS without once mentioning guns.
“The Orlando attack was not just a random act of violence. It was a calculated act of terror.” – @JohnCornyn #ISIS pic.twitter.com/MwDk2i0mBV
— Senate Republicans (@SenateGOP) June 15, 2016
Throughout the nearly 15 hours, the Democratic senators told many personal and emotional stories about their experiences with gun violence. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) talked about his cousin who was killed during the mass shooting at Umpqua Community College last year. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) read a statement from an Orlando trauma doctor while he displayed a photo of the man’s bloody shoes. And Murphy ended the filibuster by telling the story of a first-grader who was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
After that shooting in Newtown in 2012, the Senate introduced bipartisan legislation to expand background checks to all gun sales and ban both assault weapons and high-capacity gun magazines, but all of the measures were ultimately blocked when they failed to receive the necessary 60 votes in the Senate.
“I have been furious since those days following Sandy Hook,” Murphy said at the end of the filibuster. “I have been so angry that this Congress has mustered absolutely no response to mass shooting after mass shooting, in city after city that is plagued by gun violence.”