US Senator after school massacre: "Why are we here?"

Created: 05/25/2022Updated: 05/25/2022 01:01

US Senator Chris Murphy calls for tougher gun laws.

© Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/dpa

After the tragic killing spree at a Texas elementary school, Democrat Chris Murphy appeals to his Senate colleagues - and visibly struggles to keep his composure.

Washington – US Senator Chris Murphy reacted in horror to the massacre at an elementary school in the state of Texas and addressed moving words to his Senate colleagues.

“What are we doing?” asked the Democrat in the US Congress.

"Why do you spend so much time running for the United States Senate?

Why bother getting this job (...) when your answer is that while this slaughter increases and our children run for their lives, we do nothing,” he asked, clearly struggling.

"Why are we here?"

Fourteen children and a teacher were killed in an elementary school shooting in the small town of Uvalde near San Antonio, Texas on Tuesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said after the attack.

The shooter is also dead.

Murphy: "This only happens in this country"

Murphy is from the state where 20 young children were killed in a 2012 massacre at an elementary school in the town of Sandy Hook.

Such massacres are not inevitable.

"It only happens in this country.

And nowhere else," Murphy said.

"Nowhere else do little kids go to school thinking that they might be shot that day." Murphy added, "It's our decision whether this goes ahead."

"Work with us to find a way to pass legislation that makes this less likely," the Democrat said.

“I know that my Republican colleagues will not agree with everything I advocate, but we can find common ground.” Congress, the US parliament, is responsible for tightening gun laws.

Many Republicans oppose such a move.

The gun lobby is very powerful in the US.

dpa