“Our heart is breaking for these families. Every ounce of love and thoughts and prayers we can send, we are sending,” said Murphy, who represented Newtown, Conn. where Sandy Hook Elementary School is located, as a former U.S. Representative.

“But I’m here on this floor to beg to literally get down on my hands and knees and beg my colleagues. Find a path forward here. Work with us to find a way to pass laws that make this less likely,” he said…

“I just don’t understand why people here think we’re powerless,” Murphy told reporters. “We aren’t.”

Murphy said he is “so willing to bend over backwards to find compromise” on the legislation. “I want to show these want to show this country that that we care.”