US Vice President Kamala Harris calls for an assault weapons ban, saying “enough is enough”

*Paromita Das

On Saturday, May 28, US Vice President Kamala Harris said “enough is enough” and called for an assault weapons ban in the country. She attended the funeral of 86-year-old Ruth Whitfield, who was killed in the Buffalo supermarket shooting two weeks ago. Her remarks come just days after another mass shooting shocked the nation. An 18-year-old gunman recently entered an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. He began shooting, killing two teachers and 19 children.

Harris stated, “What happened in Buffalo, Texas, Atlanta, Orlando, and the synagogues is a moment when all good people, all people who love God, must stand up and say, ‘We will not tolerate this.’ ‘Enough is enough!'”

“We will come together and not let those motivated by hatred divide us or make us afraid,” she added. Harris spoke after Reverend Al Sharpton asked her to reflect on recent mass shootings, claiming that the United States is experiencing an “epidemic of hate.”
Recent mass shootings in the United States have reignited the debate over gun control, particularly in Texas, where small children were killed. The Texas shooting is the deadliest at an elementary school since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut in 2012. At the time, 20 children and six members of staff were killed.

“We will not let those motivated by hatred divide us or make us fearful,” Harris said at the funeral.
She also urged US lawmakers to act on gun control. “Congress must have the courage to stand up to the gun lobby once and for all and pass reasonable gun safety laws,” Harris tweeted.