U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy of Connecticut joined high school students in Washington, one year after the March for Our Lives against gun violence.
Blumenthal honored three recently passed mass shooting survivors, including James Richman who died in Newtown on Monday, saying the legacy of lives lost due to gun violence should inspire lawmakers to continue the fight.
“Their lives and deaths show us that the shattering trauma of gun violence isn’t limited to a single day or incident. It reverberates throughout a lifetime. The invisible wounds of gun violence take a toll beyond the initial shooting.”
Senator Murphy said the young people in March for Our Lives raise awareness about how gun violence affects cities and towns every day. He thanked them for inspiring lawmakers to continue to fight to prevent gun violence, even when progress is slow.
“Other governments can snap their fingers and change their laws. We have tens of thousands of tragedies, and we still sit on our hands.”
Murphy was speaking about lawmakers in New Zealand who banned assault-style weapons after a mass shooting that killed 50.