The filibuster began Wednesday afternoon, soon after Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy posted this tweet.
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"I've had enough. I've had enough of the ongoing slaughter of innocents, and I've had enough of inaction in this body," Murphy said on the Senate floor, where he promised to stay "until we get some signal, some sign that we can come together."
As he pushed for votes on measures that would prevent people on the terror watch list from buying guns and expand background checks, more than 40 of his Democratic colleagues joined him, according to the Hartford Courant.
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"The next time someone uses a gun to kill one of us, a gun that we could have kept out of the hands of a terrorist, then members of this Congress will have blood on our hands," Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said.
Along with Murphy, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey stood for the duration of the filibuster, according to The Associated Press. "I've cleared my entire day. I've cleared my evening events … so I can stay on this floor and support Sen. Murphy," he said.
The filibuster ended at 2:11 a.m. Thursday after Murphy spoke about first-grader Dylan Hockley, one of 20 children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting. The boy was found dead in the arms of his special-education teacher's aide Anne Marie Murphy, who also was killed.
"It doesn't take courage to stand here on the floor of the United States Senate ... it takes courage to look into the eye of a shooter and instead of running, wrapping your arms around a 6-year-old boy and accepting death as a trade for just a tiny little itty piece of increased peace of mind for a little boy under your charge," Murphy said, according to the Courant.
"I ask you all this question: If Anne Marie Murphy could do that, then ask yourself: What can you do, to make sure that Orlando, or Sandy Hook, never happens again?"
Afterward, Murphy said Republican leaders agreed to hold votes on the measures and tweeted, "I am proud to announce that after 14+ hours on the floor, we will have a vote on closing the terror gap & universal background checks."
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