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Connecticut U.S. senator uses Twitter to attack Rubio, defend Murphy

 
Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy
Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy
Published Sept. 15, 2016

One of the U.S. Senate's leading Democratic voices in favor of gun-control reform -- and an early supporter of Florida U.S. Senate candidate Patrick Murphy -- unleashed a bit of a Tweet storm Thursday afternoon in response to a new bill introduced earlier in the day by Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.

Rubio's U.S. Senate office touted his "Terror Intelligence Improvement Act" as a bill that "would make it harder for suspected terrorists to purchase firearms and easier for law enforcement agencies to go after suspected terrorists, while safeguarding law-abiding citizens' Second Amendment and due process rights." (More here.)

But in one of a handful of tweets, Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy -- no relation to Patrick Murphy -- said: "This bill won't stop one terrorist from getting a gun. This is a rehash of the gun lobby's proposal."

The @marcorubio bill forces law enforcement to go thru so many hoops and hurdles that NO gun sale to a terrorist would ever be stopped.

Where was @marcorubio when we needed him on #NoFlyNoBuy 2 months ago? This bill is just intended to be a footnote in a TV ad.

.@PatrickMurphyFL knows that terrorists are trying to buy guns. That's why he supports the bipartisan #NoFlyNoBuy bill. Rubio doesn't.

Less than an hour after Chris Murphy's tweets, Patrick Murphy's U.S. Senate campaign released a lengthy statement from Chris Murphy with a message to the same effect.

Chris Murphy famously filibustered on the Senate floor for 15 hours in June in support of gun reform after the Orlando shooting.

Patrick Murphy and his campaign earlier Thursday were also quick to criticize Rubio for both the timing and content of his new bill.

*We have asked Rubio's campaign for comment and will update this post when they respond.