ICYMI: Murphy Highlights Historic Reductions in Gun Violence on 4th Anniversary of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act
Press (Murphy)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25, 2026
CONTACT
Deni Kamper
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
ICYMI: MURPHY HIGHLIGHTS HISTORIC REDUCTIONS IN GUN VIOLENCE ON 4TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIPARTISAN SAFER COMMUNITIES ACT
WASHINGTON–U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) spoke on the Senate floor to mark the 4th anniversary of the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), the first federal anti-gun violence legislation in 30 years. Murphy highlighted the dramatic decline in rates of gun deaths and mass shootings since the bill was passed in 2022.
Murphy laid out several proof points, including the nearly 17% reduction in urban gun homicides from 2023 to 2024 and the 41% decline in mass shootings from 2021 to 2025:. “This is all good news. There are more people alive today because something is changing in America, and while it is still unacceptable that we are averaging a mass shooting every day in this country, the numbers are unquestionably heading in the right direction.”
He provided an update on the implementation of the bill’s provisions to institute enhanced background checks for people under 21, make gun trafficking a federal crime, and close the boyfriend loophole. Since the bill passed in 2022:
- 800 firearm purchases have been prevented for people under 21 who failed the enhanced background check
- 525 defendants have been charged in 280 federal cases of illegal gun trafficking and straw purchasing
- 10,000 gun purchases have been denied to individuals with a history of gun violence.
Murphy highlighted the success of community violence intervention programs which received $1.4 billion in federal funds through BSCA: “...this is maybe the secret sauce. This is maybe the biggest explanation as to why numbers are going down. What we find in community after community that are plagued with high rates of gun violence is that it is normally a very small group of people, again largely young men, that are committing these acts of violence, and that if you engage in targeted interventions aimed at these small groups of young men, you can very quickly get gun violence rates down. And, it doesn't cost hundreds of millions of dollars, especially in a small community like Hartford.”
He pointed to BSCA as evidence that democracy can still work: “..four years ago, after the awful shooting in Uvalde, four senators got together, supported by another bigger ring of bipartisan senators, and we were able to come up with a bill that was not perfect, was not everything that I wanted, or that many other Democratic senators wanted, but it was progress. And we have seen the impact of that bill. Literally extraordinary declines in mass shootings and homicides all happening, not coincidentally, as soon as we passed that bill.”
And reminded his colleagues and the American people that our country doesn’t have to accept daily gun violence as the norm: “The gun lobby has a habit of arguing that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. The gun lobby says the answer to gun violence is more guns. Well, we proved that if you pass legislation that just makes it a little bit harder for the wrong people to get their hands on weapons, people who have serious criminal convictions, people who are mentally ill, you make it a little bit easier for prosecutors to go after the gun traffickers. You give a little bit more resources to the people who do anti-gun violence work in our communities. You can make a big difference.”
###