The former U.S. representative, Patrick Murphy, visited Bucks on Oct. 29 to encourage students to get involved in public service and hit on such topics as the current state of healthcare, gun control and his hopes for the Universal Healthcare Act.

“I would just say to you [students], if you care enough, to please get involved in public service. Whether you run yourself as a candidate or you join a campaign, it is critically important because we need your ideas, we need your energy and we need your perspective,” said Murphy.

Murphy said that although America has some of the best healthcare providers in the world “it is a fragmented system.”

He rationalized supporting the Universal Healthcare Act by saying that without it, hospitals in Pennsylvania alone are paying over $1 billion dollars a year in uncompensated care.

“Most folks have health insurance, as it should be…the problem is that we have over 30 million Americans that don’t have health insurance,” Murphy said.

Murphy added that it is not the poor and elderly that are the reason why this Universal Healthcare Act is being put into place:

“Very poor people have Medicaid, seniors have Medicare…they get health care,” Murphy said. “It is the folks in the lower-middle class…that don’t have health insurance. They [the lower-middle class] get sick, sometimes they go and get in a car accident, so what then happens? They go to the emergency room, they get treated [and] they have to pay back tens of thousands of dollars. [If] they don’t have it…they declare bankruptcy. What’s the number one reason for bankruptcy in America?”

“Medical bills,” an audience member responded.

“Medical bills,” Murphy reaffirms.

Even when discussion led to gun control, Murphy would bring it into the healthcare field, saying that mental health checks should be mandatory for purchasing a gun and be covered by health care providers.

Murphy said that as a “second amendment guy” he did not believe in the restriction of guns, however, he did agree with the idea of making it necessary to have mental health examinations for individuals that wish to purchase a gun.

“I believe in the second amendment, if you want to have a weapon, you should have it, but you should make sure that the one who has it is mentally stable,” Murphy said.

Siavatlana Chahedinikava, 27, criminal justice, said she thought that gun control was one of the most important issues discussed.

“It was nice that he was very clear on the issue,” Chahedinikava said.

All of the talk with the issue of health care constantly led back to Murphy’s initial plea for students to get involved in public service.

Murphy said that he wanted students to start thinking about the current issues and do something about them as a team. “That’s what you should think about… Whether you are Democrat or Republican or Libertarian.”

When it comes to Patrick Murphy, even locals came out to hear what Murphy had to say. Debbie Walter of Newtown said that she came to the college just for the occasion. “I like him a lot… He’s genuine, he’realistic and has a good perspective of things.”