Sen. Chris Murphy has been on the anti-gun warpath for years now. We all know how he feels about guns, gun control, and pro-gun groups. He’s long lamented the NRA’s supposed hold over the GOP–he’s convinced that his Republican colleagues are bought and paid for while his taking money from anti-gun groups is totally different–and talked at length about it.

Now, though, I think he’s getting delusional.

You see, he thinks we’re looking at some fundamental shift in American political funding.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Tuesday said he sees a “paradigm shift” wherein the movement against gun violence is surging to be more powerful than the pro-gun lobby.

Murphy said on “CNN This Morning” that last year’s bipartisan gun safety legislation signals a stark change from prior years when “the gun industry owned Washington.”

“It also suggests that we have seen a paradigm shift in this country, that now Republicans see the anti-gun violence movement as being more powerful than the gun lobby,” Murphy said.

Pressed by CNN host Don Lemon, Murphy said he “absolutely” thinks there’s been a paradigm shift.

“I think today the gun safety movement is at least as powerful as the gun lobby, if not more powerful,” the senator said. “We would not have passed that legislation last summer if that were not the case.”

Republicans in Congress have indicated they’re not ready for more bipartisan progress on gun control, but Murphy said he thinks the “pressure is on” for action.

Oh, he’s so adorable when he’s delusional.

Let’s note that the only reason that bipartisan bill passed was because a small handful of Republicans crossed the line, at least in part due to the fact that there was very little meaningful opposition from pro-gun groups. Sure, they sent press releases opposing the bill, but it’s not like they actually tried to do anything.

Further, take a look at that bill for a moment. What did it actually do? What major, fundamental changes did we actually see?

Oh, a close in the so-called boyfriend loophole, something that few people really bothered defending because no one wants to defend abusive people. The rest is so minuscule that we haven’t lost a moment’s sleep since that bill passed.

And that’s the smoking gun? That’s what is leading Murphy to believe that there’s some paradigm shift in the works?

They still can’t get an assault weapon ban passed, which every gun control group in the nation has been chomping at the bit for since 2004. They still can’t get universal background checks passed. They can’t get a federal-level red flag law passed, even.

But sure, the gun control lobby is just that powerful now and Republicans are shifting their views on the Second Amendment.

I hate to break it to Murphy, but if his dream was remotely close to reality, at least some of that would be plausible. It’s not.

Further, I love how he talks about how the NRA “owned” Congress, but somehow gun control groups having that same level of power is somehow a good thing; as if he’s not bought and paid for the same way pro-gun lawmakers supposedly are.

He also manages to ignore that just about anything he and his gun control buddies do manage to get passed still has to survive the inevitable legal challenge, which following Bruen, they won’t.

But I bet it’s nice to live in your own fantasy world, isn’t it?