{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-in-the-new-york-times-dealbook-its-time-we-require-a-background-check-on-every-gun-purchase-in-america", "Murphy In The New York Times' Dealbook: It's Time We Require A Background Check On Every Gun Purchase In AmericaRead More", "2020-12-04", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "House", "CT", "Christopher Murphy", "M001169", "www.murphy.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Murphy In The New York Times' Dealbook: It's Time We Require A Background Check On Every Gun Purchase In America \n        \n        December 04, 2020\n      \n        \n          WASHINGTONU.S. Senator\r\nChris Murphy (D-Conn.)on Fridaypublished an op-edas part\r\nof the New York Times's Dealbook: How to Fix America in which hecalled for Congress to finally pass a universal\r\nbackground checks bill. In 2019, MurphyintroducedtheBackground Check Expansion Actin the Senate\r\nto expand the federal background checks to all gun sales.  \"This\r\nepidemic of gun violence is a choice. We know how to reduce this carnage, but\r\nwe live with a policy paralysis caused by a small industry with outsized\r\npolitical power. For the past 30 years, the gun lobby has successfully blocked\r\naction to reduce gun violence. But thankfully, their power is quickly fading, and\r\nCongress is closer than ever to passing lifesaving reforms, Murphy wrote. Murphy continued: There\r\nis no single law change that will prevent every gun death or mass shooting. But\r\nthe data points to one particular intervention with an eye-popping return on\r\ninvestment. Passing a national requirement that no gun be sold without the\r\npurchaser passing a background check will save thousands of lives. States that\r\nhave already implemented universal background checks, including my home state\r\nof Connecticut, have seensignificant drops in gun homicides. The good news is that a federal\r\nuniversal background law is wildly popular. More than 90 percent of all\r\nAmericans support this approach, including85 percent of gun ownersandan overwhelming majorityof N.R.A. members. That makes universal background checks\r\nmore popular than baseball or apple pie (insome polls, at least). By making this simple and\r\nurgently needed change in law, Congress can save thousands of lives,\r\nMurphy concluded. Click here to read the full piece. ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-in-the-new-york-times-dealbook-its-time-we-require-a-background-check-on-every-gun-purchase-in-america"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8568549528717995, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}