Kamala Harris calls for ban on assault rifles at funeral of Buffalo shooting victim after making unscheduled speech: VP says AR-15s are ‘weapons of war that have no place in society’
- The Vice President echoed Biden’s calls to ban assault rifles on Saturday
- She was speaking at the funeral of Ruth Whitfield, the oldest victim from the Tops Friendly Market Shooting on May 14
- Harris said: ‘Let’s have an assault weapons ban. An assault weapon is a weapon of war with no place, no place in civil society.’
- Harris had just given an impromptu speech at the funeral where she said ‘enough is enough’
- Her comments echo that of President Joe Biden who has called for a ban on assault rifles and high capacity magazines
- ‘The idea that an 18-year-old can walk into a store and buy weapons of war designed and marketed to kill is, I think, just wrong,’ he said last week
Vice President Kamala Harris called for a ban on assault weapons as mourners laid to rest the last of 10 black people killed in a racist attack at a Buffalo supermarket on Saturday.
The funeral for 86-year-old Ruth Whitfield — the oldest of the 10 people killed in the attack two weeks ago — included an impromptu speech by Harris.
Harris told the mourners this is a moment in time for ‘all good people’ to stand up to the injustice that happened at the Tops Friendly Market on May 14, as well as at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and in other mass shootings.
Then, speaking to reporters afterwards, she said: ‘We know what works on that,’ she said, reiterating support for background checks and a ban on assault weapons.
‘Let’s have an assault weapons ban. An assault weapon is a weapon of war with no place, no place in civil society.’
Her comments echo similar remarks from President Biden who said last week: ‘The idea that an 18-year-old can walk into a store and buy weapons of war designed and marketed to kill is, I think, just wrong.’
Kamala Harris calls for a ban on assault rifles before boarding Air Force Two on Saturday in Buffalo
President Biden and Jill Biden are on their way to Uvalde to meet with victims’ families
Speaking at the funeral earlier, she said: ‘This is a moment that requires all good people, all God-loving people to stand up and say we will not stand for this.
‘Enough is enough,’ said Harris, who was not scheduled to speak and came to the microphone at the urging of the Reverend Al Sharpton.
‘We will come together based on what we all know we have in common, and we will not let those people who are motivated by hate separate us or make us feel fear.’
Following the funeral, Harris visited a memorial outside the supermarket.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden had placed flowers at the same memorial on May 17 and had visited with the victims’ families.
Biden is expected to head to Texas for a visit this weekend with the families of victims of Tuesday’s school shooting.
Harris later told reporters that the administration is not ‘sitting around waiting to figure out what the solution looks like’ to the nation’s gun violence problem.
‘An assault weapon is a weapon of war with no place, no place in civil society.
‘Background checks: Why should anyone be able to buy a weapon that can kill other human beings without at least knowing: Hey, that person committed a violent crime before, are they a threat against themselves or others?’
The VP had just attended the funeral of Buffalo shooting Ruth Whitfield. She gave an impromptu speech next to Rev. Al Sharpton
Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at a memorial near the site of the Buffalo supermarket shooting after attending a memorial service for Ruth Whitfield, Saturday, May 28, 2022
Payton Gendron, the Buffalo shooter (left) and Salvador Ramos, the Uvalde school shooter (right) both legally purchased AR-15s
Harris said the nation has to come together, as well.
‘We have to agree that if we are to be strong as a nation, we must stand strong, identifying our diversity as our unity,’ she said.
It has been a sad week of goodbyes for family and friends of the Buffalo shooting victims, a group that includes a restaurant worker who went to the market to buy his three-year-old’s birthday cake; a father and die-hard Buffalo Bills fan who worked as a school bus aide; and a 32-year-old sister who moved to the city to help a brother battling leukemia.
Authorities said 18-year-old Payton Gendron, who is white, targeted the store three hours from his home in Conklin because it is in a predominantly black neighborhood.
In all, 13 people were shot in the attack which federal authorities are investigating as a hate crime. Three people survived.
Gendron is charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bail. His attorney has entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.
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