Maggots and blowflies, creatures that feast on dead human bodies, serve highly useful purposes by returning organic matter to the soil and removing potential sources of disease.
So, it's possible that Chris Murphy might also be of some social utility -- although it's hard to see him as other than a self-promoting ghoul after a shooting.
Even the left-leaning Politico has named Murphy, the Democrat junior senator from Connecticut, as one of "The 7 Most Shameless Attention-Seekers in Congress." And sure enough, just hours after the mass shooting at Brown University, there was Murphy on CNN's State of the Union.
Inevitably, Murphy made his pitch for more gun control. And in doing so, Murphy unleashed a scurrilous accusation against President Trump:
"Over the last year, President Trump has been engaged in a dizzying campaign to increase violence in this country . . . He has been engaged in a pretty deliberate campaign to try to make violence more likely in this country."
Host Dana Bash is no fan of the Second Amendment. At the beginning of the segment, she made sure to establish her lefty bona fides. When Murphy claimed that "we don't have the leadership in Washington to do anything, anything, to respond to the shooting this weekend," Bash oozed empathy: "We haven't had the wherewithal to do anything in Washington . . . for years and years and years."
Even so, Bash seemed at least a bit taken aback by Murphy's accusation against Trump. But her pushback was meek and mild:
"That's a pretty big statement. He's in a campaign to make violence more likely?"
A "big" statement? How about an outrageous one, Dana? Murphy doubled down: "Of course!"
So much for "fact checking in real time"!
Murphy's argument in support of his accusation is that Trump is supporting various measures that supposedly make violence more likely. Central was Murphy's claim that:
"[Trump] is restoring gun rights to felons and people who have lost their ability to buy guns . . . He's knowingly restoring gun rights to dangerous people . . . When you give gun rights back to dangerous people, you are going to have an increase in violence."
Murphy would have viewers believe that Trump has, across the board, restored gun rights to felons, and in particular, to "dangerous" ones. He's lying, and Bash didn't push back. She turned the focus back to recalcitrant Republicans: "Do you think that there is any appetite for any discussion right now?"
Per Grok and Google Gemini:
President Trump has not restored gun rights to all felons.
Federal law (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)) continues to prohibit anyone convicted of a felony (a crime punishable by more than one year in prison) from possessing firearms. This categorical ban remains in effect and has not been repealed or universally lifted.
The Trump administration has taken steps to revive a long-dormant federal process for individual relief from this prohibition: In February 2025, President Trump issued an executive order directing a review of gun policies to protect Second Amendment rights.
The Department of Justice (DOJ), under Attorney General Pam Bondi, published rules and proposals to restart the relief program under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c). This program, defunded by Congress since 1992, allows certain prohibited persons (including some felons) to apply on a case-by-case basis for restoration of federal gun rights.
The DOJ emphasizes that relief is for individuals deemed not "likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety," with presumptive ineligibility for violent felons, domestic abusers, sex offenders, and others considered high-risk.
Focus is primarily on non-violent offenders (e.g., white-collar crimes, drug possession, or property offenses) who have shown rehabilitation.
As of mid-2025, the DOJ has granted relief to a small number of individuals, around 10 reported cases.
It is not a blanket restoration — violent felons and those posing ongoing risks remain barred.
Under the proposed "relief from disability" program, several categories of individuals and specific types of felonies would be presumed permanently ineligible for gun rights restoration, absent extraordinary circumstances.
The categories that face this strong presumption of denial include individuals convicted of crimes involving violence. This includes offenses such as:
- Homicide/Murder
- Sexual Assault/Rape
- Kidnapping
- Burglary
- Robbery
- Arson
- Crimes that involve physical force or an element of violence
- Threatening or stalking offenses
- Any firearm-related conviction involving violence
- Sex Offenders
- Fugitives from justice
- Unlawful users of controlled substances
- Individuals subject to active domestic violence restraining orders
- Unlawfully present aliens
- Individuals with recent mental health commitments or adjudications
To label as a scurrilous lie Murphy's accusation that Trump has engaged in a deliberate campaign to increase violence by restoring gun rights to violent felons would be a gross understatement.
Chris Murphy faces a steep path to rise to the social utility level of maggots and blowflies. But in the spirit of the Christmas season, we'll hold out a modicum of hope for him.
CNN
State of the Union
12/14/25
9:05 am ETCHRIS MURPHY: Unfortunately, right now we don't have the leadership in Washington to do anything, anything, to respond to the shooting this weekend.
DANA BASH: Yeah, well, we haven't had the wherewithal to do anything in Washington of, I mean, we did a little bit a few years ago, but of means for years and years and years.
. . .
MURPHY: Over the last year, President Trump has been engaged in a dizzying campaign to increase violence in this country. He is restoring gun rights to felons and people who have lost their ability to buy guns.
He eliminated the White House Office of Gun Violence Protection. And he has stopped funding mental health grants and community anti-gun violence grants that Republicans and Democrats supported in that 2022 bill.
So he has been engaged in a pretty deliberate campaign to try to make violence more likely in this country. And I think you're unfortunately going to see the results of that on the streets of America.
BASH: That's a pretty big statement. He's in a campaign to make violence more likely?
MURPHY: Of course. I mean, he's knowingly restoring gun rights to dangerous people. He is cutting off grants that have bipartisan support to try to interrupt violence in our cities or to try to get necessary mental health resources to families and children in need. The evidence tells you that when you stop funding mental health, when you stop funding community anti-gun violence programs, when you give gun rights back to dangerous people, you are going to have an increase in violence that is knowable and that is foreseeable.
