Vice President Kamala Harris has called on legislators to move the needle forward when it comes to preventing gun violence in their states. This comes after multiple mass shootings have targeted marginalized groups, including Black and Brown Americans, LGBTQ+ people, and children in school.
“I am absolutely in favor of the Second Amendment,” Vice President Harris said at the White House State Legislative Convening on Gun Violence on Wednesday (Dec. 13). “And I am also in favor of an assault weapons ban, universal background checks, red flag laws.”
About 100 lawmakers from 39 states attended the event. Harris spoke about active shooter drills and the impact mass shootings have on children, saying it’s a lived experience for many of them. She also told the story of a young student who said they are afraid to attend their fifth-period class because the classroom doesn’t have a closet.
“Think about it,” Harris said. “Our young people, with all their God-given capacity, are sitting in a classroom where they should be full of wonder about all of the beauty and excitement about the world and their future. And some part of their brain is sitting there in fear that there might be a shooter breaking into the classroom.”
Vice President Harris additionally called assault weapons “weapons of war” and said they have no place on the streets of civil society, adding that a ban is just reasonable. She encouraged lawmakers in the room to share their state-specific strategies for community violence prevention, secure storage, and assault weapons ban in states where there are none.
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