Transcripts For CSPAN Highland Park Mayor Testifies On Acces

Cspan now, your front row view of washington. Nancy is the mayor of Highland Park. She called for immediate limitation of the federal assault weapons ban. She described the grief of those who lost Family Members and the wounds of those injured in her town during a fourth of july parade. Other witnesses also testified both for and against the band. Sorry that we have to gather in this room for this purpose, but i salute you for your commitment this meeting will come to order. I think all of those in attendance for so many people from illinois and Highland Park area. I am sorry we have to gather in this room for this purpose. On the morning of the 4th of july, 16 days ago aidan and his parents cabinet arena went out to celebrate Independence Day as a family. They stopped by their hometown parade, of Highland Park. Surely after 10 14 am, aidan lost both of his parents. It happened when a 21yearold gunman, with an eight with a military style ar15 rifle started shooting. Aidans father kevin used his body as a shield to protect even. Kevin and ethans mother arena were killed by gunfire. When the shooting stopped, eight and was found wandering around the parade route with his fathers blood smeared on his legs. I first heard about this from a rotary when i called her after hearing the news, and she talked about aidan, the little boy theyre still trying to identify. This other photo is cooper roberts, eight years old. He was at the parade that day with his twin brother, parents, and a bullet suffered a spinal cord. We pray that he will recover. But for the time being, he is battling paralysis from the waist down, and he has undergone at least several surgeries as a result of injuries, including one to reclose a bullet wound in his esophagus. Coopers twin brother luke had to be treated for shrapnel wounds to one of his legs. My heart is broken for these little boys, and for their families, and all the families mourning their loved ones and struggling to recover from this unspeakable act. Our nation was still reeling from the Mass Shootings in buffalo new york and uvalde texas when the horror came to Highland Park on the 4th of july. 83 rounds fired in less than 60 seconds. The gunman had perched himself on a rooftop and used a smith and weston semiautomatic rifle of the ar15 variety, and 3 30 round high capacity magazines to commit this massacre. He killed seven people. Their names are katherine goldstein, kevin an arena mccarthy, jacqueline sunday i, stephen straus, nicholas toronto derek elsa, and Eduardo Uvalde oh. Dozens more were injured, many are still hospitalized. Thousands experience to trauma that day that will be with him forever. The attack in Highland Park was a 309th mass shooting in america this year. There have been 47 more Mass Shootings since the fourth of july. This is a crushing number, when you consider its reflection on life and america. And it is disgraceful that we have done so little to stop. Too often the weapons that are used our military style assault weapons, designed to kill large numbers of people in a matter of seconds. My colleague, and the other senator from illinois, senator duckworth, well speak to that issue with their own special personal knowledge of it. I would like to turn to a short video that shows the threat our communities face when these were weapons, one of which was turned loose on Highland Park. He indiscriminately fired of the crowd and struck people at random. An stoppage religious rifle, similar to this one seen here, twice. The texas rampage comes to sundays after another shooting massacre at a supermarket in buffalo new york. Another mass shooting, the senator in california, on sunday. The release three smash evenings here in this country. 212 this year. In many parts of the u. S. , you only have to be 18 years old to purchase a weapon of war, and a stall tile rifle, like the ar15. The style of weapon used in many Mass Shootings, including the ones in sandy hook, las vegas, and uvalde. Waffle house, ar15. Buffalo, air 15. Boulder, orlando, parkland, aurora, colorado, midland odessa, so a synagogue, tree of life synagogue, Sutherland Springs, ar15. That is how fast, someone can shoot 30 rounds. One magazine, from an ar15. Those bullets from high powered rifle have a velocity of somewhere around 3000 feet per second. I am an emergency room doctor. I can tell you firsthand, the damage from an air 15th ballot is almost indescribable. It creates gaping holes, it liquifies organs, you cant have to. You cant had with an ar15 and eat the deer after. And that is with the surgeons, and the doctors, and the first responders, are facing when they are dealing with these mass shooting victims. They are weapons of war. Why do we allow our citizens to have such easy access to weapons of war . This is the tenth hearing the Senate Judiciary here hearing has held this congress, and how to reduce gun violence in america. The tenth. Today, we will discuss the threat our communities face when civilians as young as 18 years of age have easy access to military style assault weapons like ar15s, and no legal requirement for training. How did we get to this point . Why are these killing machines flying off the shelves, after they were banned, for a decade until 2004 . Maybe it is the ads that marketing assault weapons, symbols of independence, freedom, or the promise that owning an ar15 style again will make you more of a man. Or could it be the enticing prospect of toting around the same style of weapon that soldiers and marines used to defend our country in combat . These are the Marketing Tactics used by gun manufacturers like moss bergh, bush master, daniel defense. It is time to name and shame these companies. It is a disgrace that they have been shielded from accountability, even liability, for the devastation that has been caused by their products. I call them out on the center for last year, and i will do it again. These weapons are killing our kids, and our neighbors. In america, this land of the free, you can no longer go to the Grocery Store, a movie theater, a fourth of july parade, or send your kids to school, without fear falling victim to another senseless mass shooting. I want those who have lost so much to gun violence to know that i hear you, i see you, i stand with you in this fight for real change that goes beyond thoughts and prayers. Governor ports kerr made a comment after the shooting in Highland Park, which reflected the feelings all of us had. Heartbroken, for the victims and families, but furious that a fourth of july parade could turn into a killing field in the United States of america. I want to salute some progress, and in the last few weeks to pass the most significant gun safety law in nearly three decades. We have also confirmed an atf director for the first time in seven years, seven years. We have got to do more. If we are serious about reducing gun violence, we need to keep weapons of war where they belong, on the battlefield. In the police departments. Not in our communities. Today, we have a distinguished panel of witnesses ready to make that case, and i look forward to their testimony. Let me turn to senator grassley before recognizing my colleague. Senator grassley. For all of us it was tragic to hear about the recent shooting in Highland Park. July 4th. Just like buffalo, uvalde, other places throughout the country, senseless acts of violence have no place in our country. Particularly on a day when we should be celebrating our community, in solidarity as people. Our hearts break for victims and the families. As a father and grandfather, i cant imagine what you are going through. Sadly we witnessed another shooting in indianapolis over the weekend. Thankfully, a lawfully Armed Civilian with firearms stopped the shooter before more harm could be done. The gunman and Highland Park shooting was 21 years old. Held a valid illinois firearm owners identification card, he legally purchased five guns in four different transactions, passing federal background checks each time. Yet, like several other mass shooters, this perpetrator showed numerous warning signs over the years. He had previous contacts with police, he attempted suicide. A Family Member reportedly threatened to quote unquote, kill everyone. And his collections of knives were seized, yet he was not arrested, and no red flags were implemented when he purchased a firearm. Illinois has some of the most restrictive gun control laws in the country. But that didnt stop these murders. A young man was showing obvious signs that he is considering violence. But no one knew what the signs were. No one knew when his actions meant. No one interceded. No one stopped him. He would be easy to say that system just failed. That the police should have done more, his family should have done more. But there actually is something that would have made a difference. We have to educate the institutions in a persons life about these obvious signs of distress. These obvious signs that a person is heading towards mass violence. Schools in many states have implemented threat assessment models, but more institutions, including churches, workplaces, want to need training. We need to take affirmative steps on legislation for threat assessment, and prevention services. A study of hundreds of mass shooting incidents, conducted by two professors, show eerie similarities, repeated over and over, that arent always recognized. I know every member of this committee has heard me talk about, gets tired of me talking about the eagles act. That is named after the parkland, florida killing. Eagles was their school mascot. I first introduced this bill in 2018, it ought to be very non controversial. This legislation would provide funding to support secret Service National threat Assessment Centers efforts to conduct Cutting Edge Research into the prevention of violence. It would also enable the National Threat Assessment Center to create more of our nations schools and institutions in conducting threat assessments. And early intervention. Eagles is a vitally missing case that we have to implement if we want to reduce these Mass Shootings. We cannot afford not to do it. We cannot keep seeing a shooter after shooter follow the same productive predictable past, with nobody doing anything about it. It could be because they did not know what they were looking at. They did not know what to do. We have to fill this information gap with public education, right now the National Threat Assessment Center cannot afford to train everyone who wants this information. That has to change. I am pleading for that to change. I am not alone in these thoughts. Eagles is cosponsored by ten of my fellow senators representing both political parties. I will also base admitting a statement from the United States the secret Service Association supporting this legislation. I know many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to not like guns. Some are not particularly oppressed by the appeals of americans who desperately worry that one size fits all gun control will impede their right to selfdefense. I have spoken with many who are worried about restrictions on their right to selfdefense. I will be submitting, for the record, statements from the Asian Pacific Gun Owners Association and a Family Member of one of the victims from the shooting in Highland Park. Both were very concerned about restrictions being imposed on their right to self defend. For those who see no need for an armed citizen ray, they solution to Mass Shootings could include a ban on assault weapons. This has already been tried in the 90s and early 2000s. I did not support it then. These bands would be ineffective and non consistent with the right of selfdefense. 2004 department of justice study concluded that after ten years of assault weapons bans there was no statistically significant evidence that banning assault weapons reduced gun murders. We also know restricting gun control will hurt vulnerable communities that need to defend themselves against the horrible spite and Violent Crime that began two years ago. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, they primary trade association from the gun industry and gun sales during the first half of 2020 increased year over a year 52 for whites, 59 for African Americans, 49 for hispanics, 42 to 43 for asians. These numbers continue to grow and restricting gun control only affects lawabiding citizens and will affect this new population of gun owners. Hs based on evidence that respects the need for selfdefense. There are bipartisan things we can do and i hope the eagles act will be one of them. I hope that will be very soon. I yield. Thank you, senator grassley. I want to acknowledge and i am sure i am going to miss someone in this incredible turnout on behalf of Highland Park, lake county, and illinois. I want to acknowledge the presence of state representative bob morgan. County sheriff john idol burke, the states attorney from lake county, eric reinhart, Daniel Shapiro who i met with earlier. Sandy heart, lake county board chair, and catherines islam, i hope i got close to pronouncing your name correctly from north brook. Lauren beth gauge, and i know the mayor will be here in just a moment. We will have to opening statements, one from senator duckworth and another from senator cornyn. I will recognize senator duckworth first. Thank you, mister chairman. Mister chairman, Ranking Member grassley, thank you for holding todays very important hearing. It has been 16 days since Good Samaritans found two year old aided mccarthy lying bloodied and pinned beneath his unconscious father in the chaotic aftermath of a deadly mass shooting at Highland Parks fourth of july parade. Just a toddler, aidan had somehow lost one shoe and was down to just one blood soaked sock. As he kept asking for his mom and dad. Tragically, we learned that arena and Kevin Mccarthy were among the seven people murdered in what has become a uniquely american phenomenon. Mass murderers wielding weapons of war to inflict terror and death upon innocent americans. My constituents and yours, as well, mister chairman, were eager to celebrate america at her best. Instead, they joined a rapidly growing number of victims who have experienced our nation at her worst. I still cannot get the image of athens one bloodied sock out of my mind. I am unable to stop thinking about what his future holds now. Or what his parents final thoughts might have been as they shielded their son from bullets writing down with their own bodies. That is why im here this morning, as the senator representing eight, and i refused to let my colleagues ignore how a weapon of war forever changed this little boys life and the lives of so many others. And, as a mom raising two little girls who are attending school, i refused to do nothing in the face of a deadly epidemic of gun violence that is now the leading cause of death of young americans, let me say that now. The leading cause of death of americans under the age of 16 is a cancer, is not cant car accidents, it is gun violence. Only in america, i am urging this committee to demonstrate courage in supporting a ban on assault weapons at large pasty magazines, we cannot stop every mass shooting, they Ranking Member spoke about identifying those with Mental Health issues, i agree we should do all of that, there are predictable steps that he mentioned which is part of it. Part of those predictable steps also includes, unfortunately, in recent years, they purchasing or building of assault weapons. It does not change the simple fact, after the assault weapons ban expired in 2004 and the Ranking Member quoted the statistics from 2004 that said there had been no significant change as of 2004. However, since that ban was allowed to expire Mass Shootings in this country have tripled. We have more recent data, the data shows that Mass Shootings in this nation have tripled since the assault weapons ban was allowed to expire. I want to be clear, restoring the assault weapons ban would not prevent sportsman from continuing to access more than 2000 bottles of powerful hunting whales, we are not talking about your 30 of sixes, no mass shooter is going to grab a 30 ought six to conduct a mass shooting. They are grabbing ar15s, they are buying the lower assemblies and building their own weapons of war. It will not stop a parent from teaching their child to shoot with a 22 like my dad did with me when i was seven years old. I grew up shooting, i enjoyed going to the range, but my enjoyment of going to the range should not outweigh a childs right to life, to live the fray from the scourge of assault weapons. My focus is on reducing our streets of a rifle that eugene stone are literally designed to meet Army Requirements for use in combat, when he designed the ar15 it was de opted by the military to become the and 16 that i carried as my w