CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview with Chris Murphy

Interview

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SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Well, I guess what's so disturbing to me is that we have proposals in front of Congress right now that could have prevented this crime, that, if we had passed them, plausibly could have meant that these nine individuals would still be alive.

Here are the two proposals that are wildly popular in the American public that are directly relevant to what happened in San Jose, first a red flag law, making sure that every state has a law on the books whereby people who have come into contact with an individual who may be becoming unhinged, who may be contemplating violence, that we can go to a court and have that person's weapons taken away.

Second, universal background checks, because a red flag law doesn't work unless anywhere that an individual goes to try to buy a weapon, they're stopped from buying that weapon. You can take the weapons away, but, right now, in many states, an individual could just go to a gun show or go online and be able to purchase weapons, even though they are -- been flagged as being a potentially violent threat.

So, we have proposals in front of us right now that we could pass that would certainly save lives and would make these kind of horrific shootings much less likely.

BLITZER: And, as you heard, we are learning that the shooter was carrying these three semiautomatic handguns, had, what, 32 high- capacity magazines.

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He could have killed a lot more people in the process. As Governor Gavin Newsom of California said yesterday, what the hell is wrong with us?

MURPHY: Yes, I mean, listen, these high-capacity magazines, these military-style rifles -- in this case, it sounds like he had pistols -- they were designed for the military.

They were designed in order to kill as many human beings as quickly as possible. And I think I heard in your reporting that there may not have been any survivors that were shot. That sounds pretty familiar to me, because, in Sandy Hook, every single kid that was hit by a bullet from this gunman who had on his arm a military-style assault weapon died.

Why? Because when it comes out of these military-style weapons at such speed, it disrupts your body in a way that does not allow people to survive.

So, you can still have enough firepower to hunt, to be able to protect your home without having access to these weapons that have become the weapon of choice for mass shooters that essentially guarantee death in many instances if you get hit.

BLITZER: And the reports are he was selecting the individuals he wanted to kill. He left others alive, but he was selecting those he wanted to kill.

You reacted to this latest mass shooting by saying, you fear Congress -- and I'm quoting you now -- "become so numb to all of this that our conscience can't be moved."

Is Congress already past that point, Senator?

MURPHY: I mean, listen, I can feel the numbness here in the halls of Congress.

I mean, it used to be that, if eight people was killed, it would dominate conversation here for at least a handful of days. I do worry about this country's ability now to move on so quickly.

And, of course, it's so outrageous, because, every single day, whether or not there's a mass shooting in the news, there's 100 people dying. Last year, we had, I think, a 25 percent increase in gun murders in this country. This is a crisis. It was a crisis before 2020. And it got worse last year.

We're talking about bipartisan legislation to increase the number of background checks being conducted in this country. I don't know that I'm optimistic that we're going to get to the finish line, but it is still good news that we're in the hunt, and that we have a president and a majority leader now who support expanding protections for people when it comes to the nation's gun laws.

BLITZER: Yes, I just want to show our viewers once again the nine wonderful men who were murdered yesterday in San Jose.

MURPHY: Yes.

BLITZER: There you see them.

They were just doing their jobs. They were essential workers there. I want to express our deepest, deepest condolences to their families. May they rest in peace, these wonderful, wonderful men, and may their memories be a blessing.

Senator Murphy, thank you so much for joining us.

MURPHY: Thank you.

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