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Democrats make strong push online for gun control in wake of Las Vegas

Some of the highest-profile officials on the left are furious.

Photo of Ramon Ramirez

Ramon Ramirez

U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton questions senior military leaders during a House Armed Services Committee

Democratic leaders have hit a wall when it comes to sending “thoughts and prayers.”

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On Monday, following the Las Vegas shooting, elected officials and party elders on the left sent stern tweets and statements that advocated for gun control. The hashtag “#GunControlNow” spiked at No. 2 in the United States on Twitter, as high-profile Democrats like Hillary Clinton and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) stumped against the gun lobby.

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But it was Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) who offered the most biting statement. As a congressman, Murphy represented Newton during the Sandy Hook Massacre, and he’s been a gun control activist since.

“It’s time for Congress to get off its ass and do something,” Murphy wrote.

This must stop. It is positively infuriating that my colleagues in Congress are so afraid of the gun industry that they pretend there aren’t public policy responses to this epidemic. There are, and the thoughts and prayers of politicians are cruelly hollow if they are paired with continued legislative indifference.

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U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) pledged to skip out on the moment of silence in Congress that usually comes with national tragedies.

“Now is not a moment for silence; it’s a time for action,” he wrote on Twitter.

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Others chimed in with similar sentiments.

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The Las Vegas shooting is the deadliest mass shooting modern U.S. history, with at least 59 dead and 527 wounded.

Editor’s note: This post has been updated to reflect the latest death toll in the Las Vegas shooting.

 
The Daily Dot