Watch one senator's surprise filibuster about gun violence
This is happening right now.
In the wake of the mass shooting committed this Sunday in Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy has launched a surprise filibuster on the floor of the US Senate to call for action on guns. The American Medical Association declared gun violence a public health crisis on Tuesday.
A filibuster involves standing and talking without a break, for hours or sometimes even days, to hold up the government's business and sometimes to advance a point or agenda. (The senator is allowed to take a break from talking while other senators ask questions.) This filibuster is particularly interesting because, instead of reading from the phone book or otherwise blustering, Murphy and his colleagues are discussing and sharing facts about guns - even as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has laid off gun violence research for decades, largely due to political pressure and a lack of dedicated funds.
Between 2005 and 2015, guns were involved in the deaths of 301,797 Americans.