HARTFORD--Local politicians were quick on the heels of the president, who condemned the lack of a consensus to change gun control laws.
Wednesday afternoon, just five hours after a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California left 14 dead and 21 injured, President Barack Obama appeared on CBS for a prescheduled interview, which was supposed to air Thursday morning but was partially shown early in light of the shooting. When asked about the tragedy that had just occurred, the president honed in on the subject of gun laws in this country.
He started off by saying "our hears go out to the victims and the families." But after getting out that message, he moved straight in on the policies that he believes are causing the mass shootings.
"We have a pattern now of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world...What we do know is that there are steps we can take to make Americans safer, and that we should come together in a bipartisan basis at every level of government to make these rare as opposed to normal. We should never think that this is something that just happens in the ordinary course of events, because it doesn't happen with the same frequency in other countries."
He also brought up a point that Gov. Dan Malloy focused on after the Paris attacks and subsequent apprehension from many to allow Syrian refugees to resettle in the Untied States.
"For those who are concerned about terrorism, some may be aware of the fact that we have a no-fly list where people can't get on planes, but those same people who we don't allow to fly could go into a store right now in the United States and buy a firearm and there's nothing that we can do to stop them. That's a law that needs to be changed," the president said.
Less than an hour after the president's appearance, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, from Connecticut, sent out a tweet about the need for legislative action as opposed to prayers. "Your 'thoughts' should be about steps to take to stop this carnage. Your 'prayers' should be for forgiveness if you do nothing -- again."
He earlier tweeted "Oh god. Not again. #SanBernardino"
Shortly after, Gov. Dan Malloy paritally said in a statement: "Unnecessary gun violence is plaguing America, and we must step up and act to protect our neighbors, our families, and communities across the nation."
On Thursday, Murphy reiterated his call to action: "Thoughts and prayers have to be accompanied by action for those thoughts and prayers to really work on behalf of the people that we all are paid to represent."
Speaking of his colleagues in Congress, and specifically the Senate, which on Thursday voted down a Democratic effort to bar gun purchases by people the government suspects of being terrorists, Murphy said, "What's offensive to me is I that what I see from my colleagues is a lot of sympathy tweets, but then absolutely no follow-up action, on anything."
Just one day after the mass shooting, senators voted 54-45 to reject the proposal by California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Minutes earlier, the Senate killed a rival plan by Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas that would have let the government delay firearms sales to suspected terrorists for up to 72 hours. Under that proposal, the transaction could be halted permanently if federal officials could persuade a judge to do so.
Senators voted 55-44 for Cornyn's proposal, but it needed 60 votes to pass.
On Friday, Connecticut's Congressional delegates, including Sen. Murphy, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Rep. Elizabeth Esty and Rep. John Larson, all Democrats, will hold a press conference to condemn their counterparts across the aisle for voting down the measure on Thursday.
