Congress Is Still Giving 'Quiet Endorsement' To Murders

A version of this article was originally published on Aug. 28, following the on-air shooting  of a WDBJ news team in Roanoke, Virginia. It is being republished after the mass shooting at a community college in Oregon . 

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) hammered congressional inaction on gun violence in an interview with The Huffington Post.

"Congress' silence in the face of this rash of mass shootings has become complicity," Murphy said. "We are essentially sending a message of quiet endorsement of these murders."

Listen to the full interview with Murphy on the "So, That Happened" podcast, embedded above. His comments begin at the 8:25 mark.

Murphy has been a lonely voice in the Senate on gun violence, repeatedly taking the floor to list the names of people killed by guns -- even long after Congress voted down stronger gun laws in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, which occurred in Murphy's home state. While Republicans have been the most hostile to a gun reform agenda, Murphy acknowledged in the interview that many of his Democratic colleagues aren't helping.

"We have to remind Democrats ... when you vote with the NRA, they don't care," Murphy said. "They don't, right? Mark Begich voted with the NRA. He voted against the background checks bill. And they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to defeat him in Alaska. So we also have to remind Democrats that it's not like you're gonna buy yourself any political favors by voting with the NRA. They want Republicans. Period. Stop." 

Murphy reiterated the message Thursday on Twitter, following the Umpqua Community College shooting . 

This podcast was produced and edited by Adriana Usero and engineered by Brad Shannon, with assistance from Christine Conetta. To listen to this podcast later, download the show on iTunes .