WASHINGTON – Emotional testimony in Washington D.C. Wednesday, including Miguel Cerillo, a father of one of the survivors of the Uvalde shooting. He’s just one of the voices asking lawmakers for help.
“Schools are not really safe anymore. Things have got to change,” said Cerillo.
Among the demands heard, an assault weapons ban, raising the legal purchase age, strengthening background checks and more. Some Republicans are looking to address mass shootings while ensuring the rights of gun owners.
“When you disarm law-abiding citizens, you create not more safety, but more peril,” said Texas republican representative Pat Fallon.
Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine are proposing a “Virginia Plan” to deal with gun violence. It was passed in the Commonwealth in 2020. Now, they’re trying to bring it to a national level.
“Tim Kaine and I suggested that that ought to be a model that we bring to the nation. I’m not sure what’s being proposed on a bipartisan basis is going to get there,” said Warner.
The Virginia Plan includes background checks, limiting handgun purchases to one a month and red flag laws that remove guns from people who might be a danger to themselves or others.
“We’ve introduced that Virginia Plan bill to pending in Congress and now in the aftermath of these two horrific shootings in Buffalo and Texas. We’re having for the first time really since 2013 significant bipartisan discussions,” said Kaine.
While discussions continue, those impacted are hoping to use their voice for change.