America and the world woke up on Tuesday morning with an especially agonizing case of déjà-vu: Three children under age 10 and three adults were shot dead yesterday at a Nashville school. The apparent shooter was a 28-year-old former student armed with an assault-style rifle, who was then killed by police. It was the 128th mass shooting in the U.S. so far in 2023. According to Pew Research, 63% of Americans want Congress to pass more gun control laws, Republicans, who control a narrow majority in the House of Representatives and a filibuster-proof minority in the U.S. Senate, are unlikely to pass any.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who has been an outspoken advocate for gun control since the Sandy Hook shootings in his state more than 10 years ago, has co-sponsored the current legislation — originally introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California — that would ban assault rifles. On Monday, Murphy suggested that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., should bring his legislation to the Senate floor and force a vote while the world is watching.
