ST. LOUIS — The day after another tragic mass shooting, two local Senators were at the forefront of a gun violence hearing Tuesday morning.
“What are we doing? What are we doing?” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said. “Other than reflecting and praying. That's a good starting point. That shouldn't be our endpoint. These gaps make it too easy for felons, abusers and mentally unstable people to get their hands on guns and harm others.”
Meanwhile, the junior senator from Missouri, Republican Josh Hawley, pushed back against reforms.
“I just wonder where this is headed, where are we actually going with these proposals?" Hawley asked. “And we know that the comment about taking away your AR-15 isn't hypothetical, we've had pretty much the entire party that sits on the other side of this dais, advocating through their presidential primary last year, right through the presidential election, talking about the need to take away guns of law-abiding citizens."
Hawley’s sentiments were supported by fellow Republican, Senator Ted Cruz.
“What happens in this committee after every mass shooting is (Democrats) propose taking away guns from law-abiding citizens because that's their political objective,” Cruz said. “But what they propose not only does it not reduce crime it makes it worse.”
In Missouri, Gail Wechsler, with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is concerned about H.B. 86, which would allow guns on school and college campuses.
“If that were to become law, the odds of a mass shooting like what we saw in Boulder would increase here,” Wechsler said.
Advocates in Missouri say the bill would better protect students.