Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy questions law enforcement funding for ‘Second Amendment sanctuaries’

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Sunday that there needs to be a “conversation” about whether to continue to fund law enforcement in a “Second Amendment sanctuary state” or counties that are “refusing to implement” gun laws that are on the books.

Murphy said “Second Amendment sanctuaries” are counties that have declared that they are “not going to enforce state and federal gun laws” and that there needs to be discussion in the Senate over whether they want to continue to fund law enforcement in these counties.

CNN’s Dana Bash followed up and asked if he wanted to withhold funding for law enforcement.

“I think we have to have a conversation about whether we can continue to fund law enforcement in states where they’re refusing to implement these gun laws,” Murphy said. “I’ll talk to my colleagues about what our approach should be to this problem. But 60% of counties in this country are refusing to implement the nation’s gun laws. We’ve got to do something about that.”

Murphy said the county where the Colorado shooting at Club Q happened is a “Second Amendment sanctuary state.”

“They’ve decided they’re going to essentially refuse to implement laws that are on the books,” Murphy said. “That is a growing problem in this country. And I think we’re going to have to have a conversation about that in the United States Senate. Do we want to continue to supply funding in law enforcement in counties that refuse to implement state and federal gun laws? Red flag laws are wildly popular.”

Murphy helped push bipartisan gun legislation through the Senate in June. President Biden signed the bill into law at the end of June.

The president called on Congress to take additional action on guns before Republicans take control of the House in January.

“The idea we still allow semi-automatic weapons to be purchased is sick,” Biden said during a press event in Massachusetts on Thursday. “It has no socially redeeming value… Not a single solitary rationale for it except profit for the gun manufacturers.”

Biden said he was going to “try” to get rid of “assault weapons.”

Murphy told Bash that the gun legislation was being implemented “as we speak.”

“It’s important to know that the bill that we passed is being implemented as we speak,” he said. “But it takes a little while for these big complicated laws to be put into place.”