Referring to gun safety in the United States, the vice president continued: “We have to be smarter as a country about who has access to what — and especially assault weapons. We have to take this issue seriously. Just as seriously as you are because you’ve been forced to take it seriously. The whole nation needs to understand and have a level of empathy to understand that this can happen anywhere, in any peaceful community.” Harris was accompanied by Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering, US Rep. Brad Snyder and Sen. Julie Morrison during the visit. In a phone call Tuesday morning, Rothering had invited the vice president to join her in Highland Park after Harris spoke to the National Education Association in Chicago. In those remarks, just miles from Highland Park, the vice president told Congress to “have the courage” to act to ban assault weapons and “stop protecting” gun manufacturers. “Yesterday, should have been a day to gather with family and friends to celebrate our nation’s independence, and instead, this community suffered a violent tragedy,” Harris said during the speech, adding that “we must stop this violence.” “You know, I’ve said it before. That’s enough,” he said forcefully. “I mean, here we are, our nation is still mourning the loss of those 19 babies and their two teachers in Uvalde.” President Joe Biden late last month signed into law the first major federal gun safety legislation passed in decades, marking a major bipartisan breakthrough on one of Washington’s most contentious policy issues. The legislation came in the wake of recent mass shootings at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, located in a predominantly black neighborhood. “God, it’s going to save a lot of lives,” Biden said at the White House as he finished signing the bill. This story is breaking and will be updated. CNN’s Mary Kay Mallonee and Nikki Carvajal contributed to this report.
