Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Thursday that Republican lawmakers might move on gun control legislation if they are threatened with an electoral shellacking in November.
“I think Republicans will act [on gun control] if they are faced with the prospect of mass losses in the these elections. And in answer to your question, what can be done? In a word: elections,” Blumenthal told CNN.
“The advocates of gun violence prevention like myself and other groups and organizations around the country — and they are springing up and growing in number and power — need to make this issue front and center, a priority in these upcoming elections,” he said.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal: “I think Republicans will act (on gun control) if they are faced with the prospect of mass losses” in the 2018 elections https://t.co/T4VJhlKlBY
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 15, 2018
Blumenthal said action was being taken at the state level, such as in his home state of Connecticut, which enacted among the toughest gun control measures in the country after the shooting that killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.
He also cited a bill he proposed in the Senate with Republican colleague Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, that would “tighten the kinds of information that are submitted to the background check system.”
But a consensus has yet to be reached when it comes to expanding background checks, Blumenthal added.
“There are glimmers of hope. And we need to make this issue a groundswell, grassroots issue that really moves America,” he said.
On Wednesday, 17 people were killed when alleged shooter Nikolas Cruz, 19, opened fire at his former high school in Parkland, Fl., with a AR-15 style rifle.
Cruz has since been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.
