We wanted to share the note Chris sent last year on the 10 year anniversary of the Senate failing to pass a background checks bill after Sandy Hook.
This is an important day. It changed the trajectory of our movement, but we must keep up our work to change our gun laws and save lives.
Original note from Chris:
As I was getting ready this morning, I was struck by the date. April 17. It’s unlikely it means anything to you, but it means the world to me.
10 years ago today, I was in my fourth month as a Senator and the Senate was voting on a bill to apply background checks to every commercial gun sale in the country. It was just months after the tragedy at Sandy Hook, and the country was on pins and needles wondering whether there would be any response from Washington.
Republicans decided to filibuster the vote, so we needed 60 votes for it to pass. You know the story - we came up short with just 54 votes. For so many of us, it was a crushing defeat.
For me, it was a decisive moment in my career. I quickly realized that we could not win the debate inside Congress unless we first had enough political power outside Congress. In April 2013, the gun lobby was too strong, and the anti-gun violence movement was too weak to change the status quo.
Fast forward to today, and that work paid off. Together, we have built a movement that can go toe to toe with the gun lobby, and we have the receipts to prove it.
When Democrats took back the Senate two years ago, I told anyone who would listen not to bet against our movement — not to assume that gun safety legislation couldn’t get 60 votes. Then last summer, we passed the first significant gun safety legislation in nearly three decades with 64 votes. 10 more votes than 2013.
Look, don’t get me wrong, that bill was not perfect. There is still so much more we must do to save lives, but every day, our movement to end gun violence grows stronger.
Now that I’m up for re-election in 2024, the gun lobby could use this as a moment to stage a comeback. They’re making in-roads in state legislatures, and they helped Republicans take back the House last fall. So I need to ask for your financial support to make sure we’re ready for the fight ahead. We need to make clear our movement’s work is not done.
Will you please consider making a contribution to my re-election today? Every donation will be put to work to defeat the gun lobby and grow our movement’s power. I would not ask if this wasn’t important.
DONATE: [link removed]
For the last ten years, I’ve spent every single day helping to build a movement that could eventually beat the gun industry. I have been laser-focused on the important and necessary work to make change in the Senate.
It’s the support I get from people like you that makes that possible. Small-dollar donations keep my time fundraising to an absolute minimum so that I can focus on the work you elected me to do.
Every best wish,
Chris Murphy
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