Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) on Sunday called to reintroduce gun control bills that were defeated after the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

During a Sunday interview on CBS, host Major Garrett asked the Connecticut Democrat to react to a weekend mass shooting that left seven people dead in Santa Barbara.

Blumenthal said that he could not help but recall how he felt after the Sandy Hook shootings "when it seemed like we were on the verge of potential legislation that would stop the madness, and end the insanity that has killed too many young people -- thousands, tens of thousands -- since Sandy Hook."

"I really sincerely hope this tragedy -- this unimaginable, unspeakable tragedy -- will provide an impetus to bring back measures that would keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people who are severely troubled or deranged," he added.

Blumenthal argued that the 90 percent of the American people who wanted background checks deserved "to be heard, to be responded to," and for Congress to "end the madness and insanity."

The senator said that he hoped to break Republican filibusters of gun control bills by reconfiguring the legislation to focus more on mental health.

Sen. John Thune (R-SD) responded by saying that there was agreement among Republicans that mental health was the correct focus for preventing mass shootings.