Murphy: Scourge of school shooting after shooting only happens in US

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) responded Wednesday to reports of a shooting at a Florida high school, saying such shootings occur in the U.S. “as a consequence of our inaction” on gun violence.

“This happens nowhere else other than the United States of America — this epidemic of mass slaughter, this scourge of school shooting after school shooting,” Murphy said on the Senate floor.

“It only happens here not because of coincidence, not because of bad luck, but as a consequence of our inaction,” he continued. “We are responsible for a level of mass atrocity that happens in this country with zero parallel anywhere else.”

{mosads}

“As a parent it scares me to death that this body doesn’t take seriously the safety of my children, and it seems like a lot of parents in South Florida are going to be asking that same question later today,” he said.

Murphy’s remarks came after reports of a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Wednesday afternoon. Authorities said at least 20 people have been reported injured in the shooting, Miami news station WSVN reported.

According to Miami’s CBS4, the fire department is preparing for a mass casualty situation, and the Margate Fire Department estimated as many as 20-50 people could be injured.

Murphy has emerged as a leading figure in the push for gun control legislation after the deadly mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in his home state of Connecticut in 2012.

He held an hours-long filibuster on the Senate floor in June 2016 to protest the body’s inaction on gun control legislation.

Murphy also introduced a bill that same month that would expand background checks for most gun sales following the deadly mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., but the legislation failed to pass.