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After all, he said, pointing to a recent Public Policy Polling survey, even a plurality of Georgia voters support a ban on assault-style weapons.
So if certain
"Otherwise, they're going to have a lot of people to answer to," Murphy said here at an event where President
Some of those people are the parents of the children slaughtered in December's horrific elementary-school massacre in Newtown, Conn. Twelve of those families traveled back to Washington, D.C., with Obama on Monday night, and plan to spend this week pushing lawmakers to pass gun control legislation, specifically universal background checks and a limit on magazine capacity.
Murphy said that Newtown families are scheduled to meet with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle from Tuesday through Thursday.
"No one can explain the importance of gun violence legislation better than Newtown families. So it's critical to have them there," Murphy said. "A couple weeks ago, no one in
"So we've seen their effect in the state capitol. And I hope they will have a similar effect in Washington."
An expansion of background checks does appear to have a glimmer of hope, as Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) has signed onto bipartisan negotiations for a bill to be brought to the floor. But at least 15 Senate Republicans have promised to filibuster any new gun legislation, a movement that was joined by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday.
Murphy praised Toomey's entrance into the negotiations and said he heard good things about progress on a bill moving forward on Monday. But he cautioned that it would be unacceptable for a background-check bill to be watered down from certain provisions, including covering all commercial sales and an effective means of enforcement — paper records that many Republicans oppose.
Ultimately, Murphy said he felt that his and other Democratic Senators' efforts would be considered a failure if the Senate didn't at least pass a full, universal background check bill — one that includes checks that cover all current loopholes.
"I'd be really disappointed if we didn't get universal background checks passed," Murphy said. "But we have to be careful of a deal on background checks that goes backwards instead of forward. So a lot of us are going to be watching the negotiations going on right now to make sure that this is really going to be a step going forward."