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The junior Democratic senator took control of the floor late Wednesday morning and refused to yield until just after 2 a.m. Thursday, when he announced that Senate Republicans had agreed to vote on two amendments to address gun control. The Senate will vote Monday on a measure that would prevent people on terrorist watch lists from purchasing guns, and on one that expands background checks.
After two hours of sleep Thursday, Murphy continued to speak out about the importance of passing measures that he believes will help prevent further gun violence. He has spoken on numerous talk shows, including Friday appearances on "Morning Joe," "Chaz and AJ" and "The View," and also hosted a Q&A on his Twitter Friday afternoon.
On Saturday morning, he will appear with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), U.S. Rep. Jim Himes (D-4) and Stamford Mayor David Martin in a public meeting in Stamford with Connecticut's Muslim and LGBT leaders to discuss the Orlando shooting.
"I hope it was worth it. In the beginning of the week there were no plans in the United States Senate to have any conversation about gun control. For me as someone who comes out of the experience of Sandy Hook, who dropped off his first-grader at school for his last day today, I just couldn't accept that we were going to do nothing, that we were going to try nothing to stem this epidemic of violence," Murphy said Friday during his appearance on "The View."
In a video posted to Twitter Murphy said that the 15-hour session "was long, but I probably could have gone longer. I was tired, but in the end we got what we wanted, we got these two votes so we were able to stand down."
He added that having the support of friends like Blumenthal and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), as well as about 30 other Senators, really helped in the effort.
The filibuster also drew support on Twitter from both Democratic presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.
"I stand with @ChrisMurphyCT to demand common sense gun safety. We can't allow guns to fall into the hands of people who shouldn't have them," Sanders tweeted Wednesday.
"Some fights are too important to stay silent. Preventing gun violence is one of them. Stand strong @ChrisMurphyCT," Clinton tweeted.
Murphy said he will continue to speak on the issue throughout the weekend ahead of Monday's vote in an effort to drum up support for the measures.
"Unfortunately we're going to need 60 votes to pass either of these amendments, that's the ridiculous rule in the Senate. But we hope we can get it done," Murphy said in another video posted during his Twitter Q&A. "We're going to fight like heck all through the weekend to try to find those 60 votes. So I encourage everybody to email and call your legislators, especially your Republican senator, encourage your friends who live in states with Republican senators to call them. We're going to need 60 votes. It's not going to be easy, but at least we have a chance now."
The public meeting with Murphy and other leaders will be held Saturday at 9 a.m. at the First Congregational Church, 1 Walton Place in Stamford.
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