(PresidentialWire.com)- In the wake of yet another mass shooting that has left multiple people in Highland Park, Illinois, dead, Vice President Kamala Harris has renewed calls for even more gun control.
On Tuesday, the vice president was attending the annual meeting of the National Education Association in Chicago, which is only a few miles away from where the mass shooting occurred. She said:
“As we all know, yesterday should have been a day to come together with family and friends to celebrate our nation’s independence. And instead, that community suffered a violent tragedy. Children, parents, grandparents — victims to a senseless act of gun violence.”
The suspect in the case, 21-year-old Robert E. Crimo III, has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder. The suspect made his way onto the roof of a business and methodically shot into a crowd that was enjoying a Fourth of July parade.
Calls for more gun violence amped up following the shooting, especially because Crimo had signs from his past that are troubling, according to many media outlets. He’s facing a mandator sentence of life without the possibility of parole, according to the state’s attorney in Lake County, Eric Rinehart.
Monday’s mass shooting resulted in at least seven people being killed and more than 30 others being injured.
Harris, who visited the site of the parade on Tuesday night, continued her speech at the conference by calling for a complete ban on assault weapons, like the one used by the shooter on Monday.
Investigators have said that the shooter fired more than 70 shots into the parade crowd. He was able to escape capture immediately at the scene by dressing in women’s clothing, though he was eventually arrested later that day.
At the conference, Harris said:
“We need to end this horror. We need to stop this violence.
“So, let’s talk about what an assault weapon is designed to do. An assault weapon is designed to kill a lot of human beings quickly. There is no reason that we have weapons of war on the streets of America. We need reasonable gun safety laws.”
Just a few weeks ago, President Joe Biden signed into law one of the most comprehensive gun safety packages in recent years. That legislation was created by a bipartisan group of senators and passed through the House with some bipartisan support as well.
However, it does not go nearly as far as the Biden administration — and many other Democrats — would have liked. Now, with yet another mass shooting taking place, there are renewed calls for even more to be done.
That’s highly unlikely to happen, though, even as prominent officials like Harris make public pleas to do so. Republicans in Congress have been unwilling to go further on gun control, and they are unlikely to budge at all — especially since they just helped to craft and pass gun safety legislation.
Democrats are sure to try to make this a campaign plea leading up to the midterm elections this November, as they try to hold onto their narrow leads in both chambers of Congress.
