WASHINGTON – Survivors and families affected by gun violence called on legislators Wednesday to enact stricter gun laws before a march to the U.S. Capitol.
“I am unwilling to let what happened to my family, to my babies, on one of the most celebrated national holidays, a day that represents freedom, be another thought and prayer,” Abby Brosio, who survived the mass shooting July 4 in Highland Park, Illinois, told the crowd. “I hope you’re uncomfortable. Change is uncomfortable. Let’s begin.”
The demonstration, which drew about 200 people, is part of a broader call for action after mass killings, including the attack in Highland Park, where seven people were killed after a gunman climbed to a rooftop in the wealthy Chicago suburb and fired on those watching a Fourth of July parade. Families from Uvalde, Texas – where a gunman killed 21 people at an elementary school in May – spoke to the crowd as well.
Kimberly Rubio, whose 10-year-old daughter, Lexi, was killed during the Uvalde shooting, demanded change. People in the crowd cried as Rubio said a gun ban could have prevented her daughter’s death.
“If there is one question that should be on the forefront of (law enforcement) minds, what if the gunman never had access to an assault weapon?” Rubio said to the crowd.
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Cries of grief and frustration rang out as attendees wiped away tears with the fabric of their bright orange shirts, worn to promote gun violence awareness. Attendees marched to the exterior of the Capitol, chanting, “Enough is enough.”
For Ashley O’Brien, who lives in Chicago and works in Highland Park, making the trip to Washington was non-negotiable. She said the march was a chance to be heard.
O’Brien, 32, said she is apprehensive about legislators’ willingness to take action.
“It’s simpler than they think,” said O’Brien, who came to Washington with her mother and friends. “Ban assault rifles now. Pass universal background checks. It won’t solve everything. But it is a big first step that has to happen, and it has to happen before more people need to experience the trauma of a mass shooting.”
In Highland Park, residents planned to hold another vigil Wednesday night at the town hall. Others planned to hold an in-person rally and virtual phone bank Saturday to demand Illinois lawmakers call a special session to pass gun restrictions.
“I’m grieving, but I’m also angry because the tragedy we experienced here in Highland Park is preventable,” resident and organizer Rachel Jacoby, 25, told USA TODAY on Wednesday. “Highland Park residents are determined to make sure no other community has to experience the trauma we have experienced in the last 10 days. And we can do that by passing safety legislation, including a ban on assault weapons here in Illinois.”
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In Washington, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and organizer Kitty Brandtner addressed the crowd. Brandtner said Highland Park is ready to fight to ensure it is the last community to experience a mass shooting.
“We’re here. We’re having our voices heard, and we’re going to federally ban assault weapons right now,” Brandtner said.
Organizers raised more than $200,000 for the rally on GoFundMe, which helped cover travel expenses and lodging for survivors and families of victims.
Tuesday, organizers of the rally and survivors of the Highland Park shooting met with legislators about stricter gun control laws, said Carolyn Pryor, one of the organizers. The group spoke with Democratic lawmakers, including Duckworth and Sen. Dick Durbin, as well as Sen. Chris Murphy, whose term began as his state was reeling from the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in which 26 people were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. They also met with Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa.
“We have to keep pushing for this to happen, because as a group, we know that it doesn’t matter what you do state by state,” Pryor said. “People even say that Illinois has strict gun legislation, but as you’ve seen from what happened on July 4th, that can’t be fully the truth.”
In the aftermath of the Uvalde attack, President Joe Biden signed into law a bipartisan gun control bill requiring more in-depth background checks on gun buyers under the age of 21. The legislation, passed on June 25, is one of the most far-reaching gun control bills in three decades.
Organizers of Wednesday’s rally said that although the legislation was a step forward, it is not enough. They called for added stipulations on background checks. The suspect in the Highland Park attack legally obtained an arsenal of weapons before the attack even though there were warning signs about his mental state, exposing cracks in the system and the limits of state laws.
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Lara Chaimson, 39, said this week she planned to travel to Washington with other Highland Park survivors for the event.
Chaimson said she’s concerned Americans will quickly move on, distracted by their own lives and the likelihood of another tragedy that will take over the news cycle.
“If I’m being honest, that’s happened to me most of the time when I read stories like this. But if we look at the big picture here, this is something that’s snowballing. It’s something that’s happening frequently,” she said. “It seemed impossible that it would hit home. But it did.”