Dem. Sen. Murphy questions whether law enforcement should be funded in states that refuse to enforce gun laws

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy on Sunday said the Senate should have a conversation about whether to continue funding law enforcement in so-called “Second Amendment sanctuary” states and counties.

Murphy said 60% of counties in the U.S. refuse to enforce state and federal gun laws during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” calling it a “growing problem in this country.”

“The majority of counties in this country have declared that they are not going to enforce state and federal gun laws,” the Connecticut senator said. “They have decided that they are going to essentially refuse to implement laws that are on the books.”

“I think we have to have a conversation about whether we can continue to fund law enforcement in states where they are refusing to implement these gun laws,” Murphy said, adding that he’ll talk to his colleagues about the issue.

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Murphy’s apparent renewed call to “defund the police” comes after many Democrats, including President Biden, called to fund the police heading into November’s midterm elections, and as a crime crisis rages in major American cities.

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In September, the Major Cities Chiefs Association released a midyear report on violent crime that surveyed over 70 major U.S. law enforcement agencies and found that violent crime has increased by over 4% in 2022 when compared to 2021 numbers. Robberies and aggravated assaults have outpaced the increase in 2021, rising 13.1% over 2021 totals and aggravated assaults rising 2.6%.

Murphy’s remarks also raise questions over how Democrat-led cities have enforced, or failed to enforce, immigrations laws as waves of migrants cross the southern border and the riots that erupted throughout 2020.