Friend,

I'm writing to share a story with you. It's a personal one that ties together my work on gun safety, my family, and the importance of perseverance and action.

When I'm done, I'm going to ask you to split a donation between my campaign and Chuck Schumer before the official FEC fundraising deadline on September 30.

If you understand the importance of this deadline and want to skip the story, you can contribute here. It'd mean a lot:

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/cs-murphy

Otherwise, the story starts about halfway through my 15-hour filibuster about gun violence in America three days after the mass shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

I remember looking up at the gallery and seeing my wife, Cathy, sitting with my oldest son Owen, who was then 8 years old. I had been standing and speaking on the floor for about 8 straight hours, and I had no good way to keep in touch with the outside world, so I was surprised when I saw Cathy and Owen looking down on me. It was emotional, since my gun violence work is so personal, I can't stand to live in a world where my kids -- or any kids -- go to school worrying whether they will make it home alive.

When I saw them, I had to take a minute to compose myself. But when I got myself together, I looked right at Owen and told him that though I was sorry I had to miss Wednesday pizza night with him and his brother and Mom, I knew that someday he would understand why I was doing what I was doing.

I told him that nothing would ever change in the world for the better unless people make the effort to create change.

In a way, my filibuster worked. I forced the Senate to take a vote on my universal background checks bill. But we lost the vote.

And we lost a number of votes after that.

But we kept fighting. We kept building our movement. And last summer, almost exactly six years since I looked up and saw Cathy and Owen in the gallery, we passed the most significant gun safety legislation in three decades.

As a senator, I can do big and impactful things like the filibuster that day (and night).

But even if you're not a Senator, all of us have important roles to play in the fights to create meaningful change.

Today, I am asking you to do something small, but important. I'm asking you to donate to keep me in the Senate where I can continue fighting for you.

Some can give a little. Some can give a lot. But the important thing is the number of donations we receive before this deadline. So I am asking:

Can I count on you to split $10, or whatever amount you can afford today, between my re-election and Chuck Schumer's campaign? Do it before our FEC fundraising deadline ends on September 30.

If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately and be split evenly between Chuck Schumer and Chris Murphy:

Thank you in advance for chipping in. I really appreciate it.

Every best wish,

Chris