[1]U.S. Senator Chris Murphy

Eight years ago, around the time I’m sending you this, I was walking to the Senate floor prepared to speak for as long as it took to force Mitch McConnell and Republicans to agree to vote on gun safety legislation.

It took 15 hours.

As I walked onto the floor, I thought to myself, "What if this is a total failure where nobody pays attention?” Most of my colleagues and even some of my staff did not know what was about to happen. But I was determined to talk as long as I could about the need to prevent gun violence.

This was just days after the shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando during Pride month.

When I started, my Senate colleagues and the media were largely surprised or skeptical. A lot of Republicans were outraged. But I could not let Congress continue ignoring tragedy after tragedy without putting votes on the record.

Over the next 15 hours, our voices started to break through. My colleagues heard the demand for change growing louder and louder — not just from me, but also on social media and with calls to their offices.

Eventually, Republicans caved. Our movement made the filibuster impossible to ignore, and Republicans agreed to a vote on background checks and denying guns to people on the terrorist watch list. It’s not a vote they wanted to take. It’s not a vote the gun lobby wanted to see.

And yes, we lost that vote, but it changed the tides in Congress. It was a seismic shift in the balance of power in Washington. Our movement put the gun lobby on notice that we could take the offense and we proved we were a force to be reckoned with.

But let me be clear, it happened because your voice amplified mine, and together we raised up the voices of millions of Americans impacted by gun violence. To me, the great lesson of that filibuster is what we can do together.

I am honored that you trust me to lead this fight. But change will only happen if we are in it together for the long haul. So today — eight years to the day after my filibuster began, I’m running for re-election. And I am personally asking for your help to keep me in this fight:

If you can, please consider making a $3 contribution to my campaign today. Every dollar will go toward my work ending gun violence and help me build power for our movement in Washington. It would mean a lot to me, especially today.

Donate: [link removed]

I’m honored to have you by my side. Grassroots support is the backbone of our movement, and small-dollar donations allow me to spend more time focused on the work you elected me to do.

Every best wish,

Chris
 


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