Kamala Harris met with relatives of those killed in the Monterey Park mass shooting
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Vice President Kamala Harris Called for Stricter Gun Control Laws to Be Enacted at the Monterey Park Mass Shooting Memorial: 'Congress Must Act'
Vice President Kamala Harris arrived outside the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park Wednesday night and stopped to view the names and photos of each of the victims who died in Saturday's mass shooting , before placing a bouquet of flowers in front of the monument
Harris said the nation is mourning the loss of the 11 people killed and 9 others injured, while advocating for stricter gun control laws.
The community has been holding nightly vigils since the mass shooting that has brought people of different backgrounds together to begin to recover from the horrific event.
Harris visited Star Dance Studio to mourn the loss of the victims of the Monterey Park shooting, expressing the administration's “deepest condolences and sorrows for the violent, tragic and pointless things that happened” there.
Vice President Harris said: “I visited Monterey Park today to pay my respects and honor those whose lives were taken too soon. This senseless gun violence demands action. POTUS and I have called on Congress to protect Americans and renew the ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.”
Today, I visited Monterey Park to pay my respects and honor those whose lives were taken too soon.
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) January 26, 2023
This senseless gun violence demands action. @POTUS and I have called on Congress to protect Americans and renew the ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. pic.twitter.com/Vb1VJXj9b5
Harris praised California for its work on gun control laws, but stressed that Congress must take action for the country as a whole and “have the courage to do the right thing.”
Harris was asked if he thought the current Congress could act on gun reform, and he gave an emphatic answer. “Tragically, we keep saying the same things,” Harris said. “Congress must act. should they? If you can? Yes”.
After speaking with reporters for a few minutes, Vice President Kamala Harris left for the Langley Senior Center where she met with families of the victims and first responders.
On Monday, seven people were killed in Half Moon Bay in a two-location mass shooting , authorities said, believed to be motivated by workplace violence.
And just hours later in Oakland, at least one person was killed and seven more wounded in another mass shooting at a gas station.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, the United States has recorded 40 mass shootings in January , more than the days elapsed in 2023.