“I think we will put together a package that will get more than 10 Republican votes,” he told CNN’s John Berman on “New Day” Thursday.
Lawmakers have been facing intense pressure to act in the wake of recent mass shootings in the United States, and at least 10 Republicans need to vote with Democrats to clear the 60-vote threshold to break a filibuster and pass legislation. Murphy said he hopes the group can still reach agreement on a package by the end of the week.
“We’re still driving towards that goal,” he said. “This is complicated law, and we want to make sure that we get it right, not do it fast. So everybody is still at the table, nobody is walking away, and I’m still confident we have a path to get there.”
He added: “Time is never our friend when we’re talking about getting people to the table on something as difficult as gun laws and gun violence. I think that phenomenon likely still applies, except for the fact that something different is happening out there in the American public in both conservative states and more Democratic-leaning states you have parents that just are not going to accept nothing as an option this time.”
Hours after Murphy said he hoped a deal would come this week, a top GOP negotiator poured cold water on those plans.
Sen. John Cornyn, chief GOP negotiator on gun legislation, told CNN “no,” he doesn’t expect a deal this week on guns.
“But having said that we’re making good progress,” he added.
Later Thursday, he told CNN there was not yet a deal following a meeting in Arizona Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s basement hideaway.
“We’re meeting again tomorrow, and I hope to resolve remaining differences,” Cornyn said. He added the meeting would be virtual.
The Texas Republican said he is optimistic a deal can be on the floor by the end of the month. He told reporters that he is “not surprised” that some Republicans are already pledging not to vote for the Senate’s bipartisan gun package if a deal can be reached.
“Some people will not want to touch this with a 10-foot pole because they’re concerned about the politics of it,” he said. “But I think this is a time where hopefully we can transcend that personal political interest and do what we think will save lives. To me that’s the ultimate goal.”
Cornyn said that the legislation will likely be ready “by the end of this work period,” telling CNN, “in the next couple of weeks, I’m optimistic.”
“I think there has been some lingering confusion,” Murphy said. “Past proposals have suggested a federal red flag law. I’ve actually never thought that was a good idea. I don’t think you want law enforcement to have to go into the federal courts to take, temporarily, firearms away from a dangerous individual. So we have to clean up some of the confusion around what we are proposing.”
He added: “We are talking about is incentivizing state red flag laws and providing substantial funding to implement them.”
He also said the group is “zeroing in” on the 18-21 age group on age limits or looking at juvenile criminal records for purchasing semiautomatic weapons.
“I think we continue to try to find a path to 60 votes that includes some provision that recognizes these 18- to 21-year-olds tend to be the mass shooters, and that many times they have juvenile criminal records or past histories of mental health that should prohibit them from buying a weapon,” he said.
He added: “So we are zeroing in on this population, trying to find the path to bipartisan agreement. I will say I think there’s Republican support for raising the age to 21. I don’t know whether there are 60 votes for that proposal, so we’re exploring some other important and impactful options.”
Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney told CNN on Thursday that he would support raising the age from 18 to 21 to buy a semi-automatic weapon such as an AR-15. He said he “hopes” it would be included in a final gun compromise.
“You have to be 21 to buy a handgun so saying you also have to be 21 to buy an assault rifle seems to make sense,” Romney said.
His comments come as Republicans largely seem opposed to the idea of raising the age from 18 to 21, but as CNN previously reported Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has expressed an openness to the idea privately. The issue hasn’t been a serious part of the bipartisan gun talks.
“The urgency from the American public doesn’t seem to be going away,” Murphy said Thursday.
Passage of the legislation in the House took place hours after an emotional hearing on gun violence in which families of victims pleaded for more action.
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