Chris Murphy gun control filibuster participant Chris Murphy
On June 15, 2016, in the wake of a mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, launched a filibuster in the United States Senate, promising to hold the floor "for as long as I can" or until Congress acts on gun control legislation.Murphy eventually secured a commitment from Senate leadership to hold a vote on two measures that he supports—one to expand background checks and another to block suspected terrorists from purchasing weapons—and ended his filibuster after 14 hours and 50 minutes, making it the tenth-longest filibuster in the U.S. Senate since 1900.Filibuster
Murphy began his filibuster at 11:21 a.m. EDT during a debate over an unrelated spending bill, and stated that his goal was to force the Senate and the United States House of Representatives to expand background checks of would-be gun purchasers, and to make it impossible for individuals listed on the FBI's various lists of suspected terrorism participants and no-fly lists to legally purchase guns from FFL holders. As a Murphy spokesman put it, the Senator would "hold the floor to push for a vote on amendments to close the terror gap and expand background checks."Under Senate rules, Murphy was permitted to yield for the purposes of taking questions while not yielding the floor; as in recent past filibusters, this allowed supporters of the filibuster to make speeches of their own which were nominally questions, temporarily relieving Murphy from having to constantly speak. Murphy was joined over the course of the nearly 15-hour-long filibuster by 38 of his 45 fellow Senate Democrats. Some, including Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Cory Booker of New Jersey, stood with Murphy for hours. Other Democratic senators appearing on the floor included Bill Nelson of Florida, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, as well as Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey of Massachusetts. Other Democratic senators joining the filibuster included Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell of Washington, Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Bob Menendez of New Jersey, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Tom Carper of Delaware, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed of Rhode Island, and Joe Donnelly of Indiana. Independent Angus King of Maine, who caucuses with the Democrats, put questions as well.Two Republicans appeared on the floor to engage with Murphy with questions: first Ben Sasse of Nebraska and then Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.In his remarks on the floor, Murphy said, "I really do worry that there is a quiet, unintentional message of endorsement that's sent when we do nothing or when all we do is talk. I think when there is not a collective condemnation with policy change from what is supposedly the world's greatest deliberative body that there are very quiet cues that are picked up by people who are contemplating the unthinkable in their mind."Murphy formally yielded the floor, ending the filibuster, at 2:11 a.m. EDT the following day, after 14 hours and 50 minutes.