Lawmakers from several levels of government in Minnesota were joined by gun control advocates in Minneapolis Thursday to call for state and federal gun control in the wake of the shooting at a Catholic church Wednesday, in which two children were killed and 18 other people, mostly kids, were wounded.
“Here we are again,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action, “because politicians would rather protect the gun lobby’s profits than protect our kids.”
In the U.S., deadly gun violence has become increasingly commonplace at schools, churches and other settings once considered safe, despite efforts to beef up security and identify potential perpetrators before they can act. And each new mass shooting stirs up the long-running national debate over access to guns.
In Wednesday’s attack, the shooter, armed with a rifle, a pistol and a shotgun — all obtained legally, according to police — fired through the stained glass windows of the church at students from an affiliated school, sitting in pews for a service to celebrate the start of the new school year.
Two children, ages eight and 10, were killed in the shooting.
Mayor calls for ban on assault weapons
Police on Thursday said the shooter fired 116 rifle rounds into the church.
At an afternoon news conference at city hall, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called for a state and federal ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
“There is no reason that someone should be able to reel off 30 shots before they even have to reload,” he said.
“We’re not talking about your father’s hunting rifle here. We’re talking about guns that are built to pierce armour and kill people.”
A 2008 U.S. Supreme Court ruling reaffirmed the right of individual Americans to own guns.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, speaking Wednesday after a deadly shooting at a church hosting Catholic school children, urged people to stand together and support the families affected. ‘Every one of us needs to be wrapping our arms around these families, giving them every ounce that we can muster.’
The mayor took issue with the view of many pro-gun conservatives who argue the prevalence of gun violence in the U.S. is a mental health issue, unrelated to access to firearms.
“People who say, ‘This is not about guns,’ you gotta be kidding me. This is about guns,” Frey said on Thursday in an earlier interview with ABC News.
Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota spoke of surviving war in Somalia at the age of eight, never dreaming she’d be practising active shooter drills in the United States.
“There is something fundamentally broken,” she said.
There have been 286 mass shootings in the U.S. this year, as of Aug. 27, according to Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit group. It defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more people are killed or wounded, not including the shooter.
The second day of the Republican National Convention was focused on safety in the U.S., with border security and immigration the key topics, but not gun control — even in the wake of an assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
No criminal history
At a separate new conference Thursday, Minneapolis police Chief Brian O’Hara said the shooter had no criminal history and no state-ordered commitments for mental health — and therefore nothing would have prevented the assailant from buying guns.
State and federal authorities said the shooter was driven by hatred, a fascination with U.S. mass shootings and a desire for notoriety.
“The shooter idolized some of the most notorious mass and school shooters in our country’s history,” said Joseph H. Thompson, acting U.S. district attorney for Minnesota.
Minneapolis city officials on Thursday increased to 15 the number of children who were wounded in Wednesday’s shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church, in addition to three parishioners in their 80s who were also injured. One child was in critical condition Thursday while 11 other victims remained in hospitals.
“A 10-year-old boy had more courage hiding in a church pew, while his friend shielded him with his body, than I have seen from far too many lawmakers more beholden to a gun lobby than a child,” said Ferrell-Zabala.
“No more excuses. No more thoughts and prayers. Prayers didn’t save those children as gun fire rang out while they were actually praying. Action would have.”
A mother and daughter describe moments of fear and confusion after a deadly shooting at a Catholic school’s church in Minneapolis on Wednesday. Suzanne Garcia said she was at work when she heard about the shooting and raced to the scene looking for her daughter, Clarissa, a fifth grader at the school.
