Connecticut's members of Congress, who took public stances this week to demand action be taken on gun-control measures — culminating with a nearly 15-hour filibuster by U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. — vowed Thursday to continue their fight.

"My legs are a little bit rubbery, but my heart is strong because I know we made a difference yesterday," Murphy said Thursday at a news conference on curbing gun violence, flanked by several of his Senate colleagues and two women whose family members were killed in the shootings in San Bernardino, Calif., and Charleston, S.C.

The news conference was previously planned and not in reaction to Murphy's filibuster.

Murphy began speaking on the Senate floor at 11:21 a.m. Wednesday, seeking a vote on legislation proposed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., that would let the government bar sales of guns and explosives to people it suspects of being terrorists.

Votes on that proposal and another to expand background checks are scheduled for Monday but could get pushed to Tuesday, according to Murphy.

"We have scheduled these votes, but there are still ongoing conversations about compromise language," he said by phone Thursday afternoon, explaining he was unsure if the proposals would pass.

"I'm certainly worried that the NRA has a strangle on too many members of the Senate. These votes are a 60-vote majority. ... I think it's unlikely that we'll get 60 votes for the background checks bill, but it's certainly possible that we could get 60 votes" on the proposal that would bar suspected terrorists from purchasing guns and explosives, he said.

The Senate was scheduled to take up the Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies appropriations bill on Wednesday.

Murphy spent much of the time speaking about the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown and, before yielding the floor, he talked at length about 6-year-old Dylan Hockley, who died there, and his aide Anne Marie Murphy, who also died and was found by police embracing Hockley.

Murphy did not yield the floor until 2:11 a.m. Thursday, announcing that Senate Democrats had received a commitment from Republican leaders to schedule votes on the proposals to close the terror gap and expand background checks for firearms purchases.

Murphy's office received calls from 10,000 people on Wednesday.

"I think we have galvanized millions of people around the country. We've shown people what the power of action can do," Murphy said. "It may not get us all the way there, but we have tens of thousands of new activists all around the country who are inspired."

The decision to filibuster was a last-minute one.

Murphy said he and U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., started talking about it Tuesday night, and the decision was made "probably not more" than an hour before he began filibustering.

Forty senators joined Murphy on the Senate floor over the course of the 15 hours, he said, including Blumenthal and Booker, who were with him through the duration of the filibuster.

Booker, like Murphy, stood the whole time.

Following Sandy Hook, Connecticut passed gun-control legislation in April 2013, considered to be the strictest gun law in the nation at the time.

Under the law, the sale of gun magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds is prohibited and background checks for private gun sales, including at gun shows, are required.

Scott Wilson, president of the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, which advocates for Second Amendment rights, said the group has more than 23,000 members compared with the 2,499 it had at the time of the Sandy Hook shootings.

In May 2013, the group filed a lawsuit against the State of Connecticut in response to the assault weapons ban, and that suit is under review in the U.S. Supreme Court, Wilson said.

"Senator Murphy and others from the Connecticut delegation think they are acting in the best interest of the people, but I will point out after incidents such as Orlando or even in Sandy Hook, no one goes out and turns their firearms in," he said.

"Historically, they go out and purchase more firearms and that includes many first-time purchasers who've never owned a firearm prior to such incident," he added.

He said the no-fly, no-buy proposal "denies (people) their due process rights based on the fact that they're on some list that no one has any idea how they get on the list to begin with."

Of the proposal to expand background checks, he said, in the case of Orlando, the shooter "not only passed a background check for firearms but also numerous other background checks for his job and other things."

A self-proclaimed Second Amendment advocate for the last seven and a half years, Wilson said "one of the things that's been frustrating is the fact that these mass murder incidents are always happening in gun-free zones," and that he'd like to see proposals curtailing such zones.

It will be difficult to get gun-control measures passed in a Republican-controlled Congress.

Blumenthal acknowledged that Thursday when asked whether he thought the "terror gap" and expanded background check measures would pass the Senate, saying, "I'm never confident of anything in the United States Senate."

He is anticipating a "showdown" on the Senate floor, as Republicans will be able to offer their proposals as well.

"We're not going away. We're not giving up," Blumenthal said. "At the beginning of the week, no debate was planned and no vote, so that's progress."

In urging President Barack Obama to provide a "serious plan" to defeat the Islamic State, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Wednesday on the Senate floor that "The way to prevent more ISIL-inspired and ISIL-directed heartbreak is to defeat ISIL."

"This is why we've worked to strengthen law-enforcement, rebuild our military and develop counterterrorism tools designed to save lives," McConnell said.

"The terrorist attack in Orlando underlines the critical importance of this work, and it presents each of us with a choice: Do we want to make the tough choices to actually solve the problem and defeat ISIL," he added, "or do we want to use the Senate floor to make 30-second political ads?"

On Monday evening, several lawmakers — including Reps. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, Jim Himes, D-4th District, and John Larson, D-1st District — walked out of the House chamber when Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., called for a moment of silence for the victims of the Orlando massacre.

Himes was reportedly the first lawmaker to walk out.

After the moment of silence, Democrats shouted, "Where's the bill?"

"It was pretty clear at the beginning of the week that the leadership in both chambers had absolutely no intent of bringing up these measures that have been sitting out there for months," Courtney said by phone Thursday. "By the end of the week, we've really seen the ground shift."

He and Himes went over to the Senate on Wednesday to support Murphy.

Courtney called the commitment to hold votes in the Senate "tremendous progress."

On the House side, it "appears" that there might be "some movement" toward holding a vote on the so-called "no-fly, no-buy" legislation, Courtney said.

But nothing had been announced explicitly, he said.

Larson said he hoped "minimally" that the House would take up the "no-fly, no-buy" legislation. Though he noted the proposed assault weapons ban is "equally as important," and that various mental health issues need to be taken up, as well.

"At least have a vote," Larson said. "If Republicans are against it, then they can vote against it."

Connecticut's delegation in the House issued a joint statement Thursday commending Murphy and Blumenthal for their efforts.

"We are encouraged by the progress Sen. Murphy's filibuster made in the Senate, and hopeful that a bipartisan compromise can be reached. We will continue to call on Republican Leadership to do its job and hold a vote here in the House, as well," the joint statement said.

j.bergman@theday.com