New London — A small crowd gathered at Oasis Pub on Bank Street to watch U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy give a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Wednesday night.

The Connecticut senator, known nationally for his stance on gun control after a 15-hour filibuster in June, took the stage in Philadelphia just shy of 8 p.m.

After a quick round of applause both in the convention center and at Oasis, everyone in the bar went quiet and all eyes focused on the projection screen above the pub stage as Murphy addressed the convention.

"The grief, the unending, mind-altering, paralyzing sorrow that comes with losing a child to gun violence, it is unimaginable, and only those who live it know it," he said to open the speech.

As a father of young children, Murphy said he sympathizes with the families of 20 first-graders and six teachers killed in the shooting, and he said he was furious with Republicans' inaction to "prevent the next massacre."

"I'm here today because I want a president who shares that same sense, that outrage," he said. "Hillary Clinton pledged to take Washington back from the gun lobby."

Applause both at Oasis and in Philadelphia peppered the rest of Murphy's speech, which closed with more applause.

Emily Boushee, a staffer for Murphy, said even though people have a lot of commitments in the summer, many would be watching the convention at home, and she hoped to get people to come together to watch his speech at the pub.

Ron Ward of New London said it was nice to see as many people there, considering it was a fairly impromptu get-together. He said he had been watching the convention all week.

"I'm just really proud that the national Democratic organization has seen the leadership that Sen. Murphy is providing on common-sense gun safety," he said. "I'm just so glad that his work is getting recognized, and it brings attention to our state."

Kristina Torres of New London said she and Ryan Mackay, also of New London, regularly come to Oasis. They came Wednesday after seeing an Instagram post advertising the watch party.

Mackay said he figured that Murphy's speech would be on gun control, and he appreciated that the senator supports gun-control measures.

Both said they were undecided on whom to vote for in November and instead would focus more on down-ticket elections.

They also were interested in hearing speeches from other convention guests on topics such as the environment, climate change, student loans and campaign finance.

John Gillis, a member of the New London Democratic Town Committee, said Murphy's five-minute speech was very eloquent.

"It's very exciting to see Connecticut represented," he said.

a.hutchinson@theday.com