Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Americans should "rise with fury" over the mass shooting Monday in Las Vegas that left at least 59 dead and more than 500 sounded.
"When I saw those images I was heartbroken," Blumenthal told The Washington Post, but added Congress is partly to blame for not taking action to enforce tougher gun laws.
"My stomach churned with fury that nothing has changed since Newtown," he said, "and Congress has been complicit."
Newtown, Connecticut, was the site of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December 2012 that left 20 children and six adults dead. President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress vowed to enact tougher gun-control laws, but the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 with an amendment to expand background checks failed in April.
President Donald Trump called the Vegas shooting "an act of pure evil" Monday.
Blumenthal countered if the president really feels that way, he should help lead the effort to restrict guns.
The time for hand-wringing and soul-searching have passed, he said. "We need action now."
'These images of unspeakable terror in Las Vegas bring back those memories [of Newtown] in a very heartbreaking, gut-wrenching way," Blumenthal said. "But, at the same time, the hope that we had that day that something would be done — hopes that were dashed — and as unspeakably cruel as Newtown was, equally cruel and complicit is the failure of Congress to act."
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