On Thursday's MSNBC Live, host Craig Melvin invited Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal to complain about Congress not passing new gun laws since the Sandy Hook school shootings five years ago. The Democratic Senator was like a broken record as he complained that Congress had been "complicit" in shootings, and took aim at the NRA.
At 1:11 p.m. ET, after discussing the latest on tax policy, Melvin turned his attention to guns: "I would be remiss if we didn't talk about what happened five years ago today, the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School there in Newtown, Connecticut -- 26 dead, 20 of them children, a day that moved then-President Obama to tears."
After showing a clip of President Barack Obama responding emotionally to the Sandy Hook shootings from five years ago, Melvin seemed to fret over the House passing a concealed carry law and not passing any tighter gun laws as he continued:
Five years later, Republicans have passed a conceal carry law in the House, Democrats' bump stock bill is stalled in the Senate. A reminder perhaps for folks who have forgotten some of these faces -- a look at the children and the six teachers who died on that cold, rainy day. Have we honored their memory, Senator?
Senator Blumenthal complained:
The simple answer to your question is that Congress has failed -- it has been complicit. I'm heartbroken, but I'm also furious because Congress has shamefully failed to take meaningful action. And shame on Congress. Those deaths on that day -- those 20 beautiful children, six great educators, the heroic appearance of President Obama in the days afterward.
The Democratic Senator then went after the NRA as he added:
This nation seemed on the verge of real action, and yet the vice-like grip of the gun lobby and the NRA prevailed. But we still have an obligation to move forward, and I'm hopeful that we will -- but with bipartisan legislation -- just the beginning of hope.
As he concluded, Blumenthal seemed to stumble over his numbers as he wildly suggested that there are 90,000 people a day who are affected by gun violence:
The cracks in the ice of partisan paralysis are beginning, and we should honor those 26 victims and the 90,000 every day, the 170,000 who have died since Sandy Hook with real action.
