Dem Rep. Schakowsky: IL Has ‘Very Strong’ Gun Laws and Parade Shooter Shouldn’t Have Had Gun, But ‘Mainly’ Need Assault Weapons Ban

During an interview with NBC on Wednesday, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) stated that Illinois has “very strong” gun laws, “there were all these signals” about the Highland Park shooter and so “if everything were perfect, we would have been able to stop this young man from getting a gun. He shouldn’t have had the gun. That’s true. And hopefully, these red flag laws will help.” But the main thing we need is a ban on assault weapons.

Schakowsky stated, “[W]e now passed federally a red flag law that would also help that. But I want to tell you, Illinois actually has very strong gun safety laws. The answer [is] the guns. Why would we, as the United States of America where we have 4.4% of the population and 46% of all the guns, more guns than all other countries combined, by and large, why would we have these weapons of mass destruction, these assault weapons on the street at all? Why would we allow them? Yes, there were all these signals, and if everything were perfect, we would have been able to stop this young man from getting a gun. He shouldn’t have had the gun. That’s true. And hopefully, these red flag laws will help. But mainly what we need is a ban on assault weapons like we had during the Clinton administration, and then it expired. But while it was in place, it actually stopped these mass shootings.”

She added, “We knew this young man was troubled for years and years, and he should not have been allowed to have a gun, but these loopholes, these things that slip through.”

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