WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) met with Illinois community members and gun violence prevention advocates and survivors to discuss their shared efforts to save American lives through comprehensive gun safety reform, including a federal assault weapons ban. The meeting included Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering, representatives from Highland Park, Moms Demand Action in Illinois, Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, Chicago Survivors, Illinois Gun Violence Prevention Coalition, Everytown Survivor Network and Martyr for Justice Project. Photos from today’s meeting are available on the Senator’s website.
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“The needless and preventable gun violence Illinoisans and Americans across this country experience is heartbreaking and not reflective of the kind of future our young people deserve,” said Duckworth. “And yet, these leaders and community advocates continue to show their courage and dedication every day as they work for more comprehensive gun reform. I was proud to meet with them today, and I’m keep working to enact a national assault ban so we can get these weapons of war off our streets and prevent more of these all-too-common firearm tragedies in the future.”
Duckworth has been a fierce advocate of getting weapons of war off our streets. Today, Duckworth and U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) called on the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Shalanda Young to increase funding for a variety of programs that have been shown to prevent gun violence, including housing and economic development, job opportunities, education, public health and community policing. This past Fourth of July, the Senator returned to Highland Park to join with community members and leaders for a remembrance ceremony and community walk commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Fourth of July mass shooting. In June, the Senate passed Duckworth and Durbin’s resolution expressing the condolences of the Senate and honoring the victims and survivors of the mass shooting.
In the wake of the mass shooting in Highland Park last year, Duckworth made an impassioned call for gun safety reforms on the Senate floor. The week after that, Duckworth also delivered opening remarks to a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing focused on protecting our communities from mass shootings where she emphasized that our nation’s gun violence epidemic is now the leading cause of death for young Americans and implored her colleagues to support additional commonsense gun safety reforms. Duckworth has also met with Highland Park survivors and students multiple times since the mass shooting.
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