PARKLAND, FLORIDA – MARCH 23: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to the media during a visit to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on March 23, 2024, in Parkland, Florida. Harris spoke about gun safety measures after a meeting with the families whose loved ones were murdered during the 2018 mass shooting that took the lives of 14 students and three staff members. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
OAN’s Abril Elfi
4:01 PM – Sunday, March 24, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris announced the creation of a new national office to support “red flag” laws in an effort to push for gun control legislation following her tour of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
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“I do believe we have a duty to remember and a duty to bear witness to what happened here. It is extraordinarily tragic. These were beautiful people whom I have come to know through their family members,” Harris said. “They are so much bigger and more than a statistic; they should be so much bigger and more than the subject of politics or gamesmanship.”
The vice president continued, stating that “gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in America.”
“You know, part of what I talk to families about is the fact that one of five families in America has a family member that has died because of gun violence,” Harris said. “That the leading cause of death for the children of America is gun violence.”
“And what I saw here today, after I spent time with the families during the walk through the building where these crimes occurred, is a moment frozen in time,” she continued.
Harris then said that people need to “understand the facets” of the tragedy and “do better” in the future.
“I know that for the most part, [parents of victims] will try to mitigate the pain but will never completely heal,” Harris said. “We have to understand the facets of this, and when we do reflect and review and, dare I say, study what happened here at Stoneman Douglas, we must be willing to have the courage to say that on every level, whether you talk about changing laws or changing practices and locales, that we must do better.”
In her speech, Harris announced the establishment of the National Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) Resource Center, a new national office that will help the 21 states that have passed “red flag laws.”
“Of the 21 that have passed red flag laws, I challenge the others to come on over,” Harris said. “We have some resources for you to help you implement the work that you have done that has been the work of a leader on this tragic issue.”
“Red flag” laws enable the public and law enforcement to ask a court to issue a civil order temporarily preventing a person from possessing a firearm if they have reason to believe that person may use it as a weapon.
Harris concluded her speech by promising that she would “continue to advocate” for stricter gun control laws in America.
Many Republicans have criticized the order, including Mayor Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), who stated the order is an “unauthorized attack on the second amendment.”
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