Highland Park shooting: Fed-up mother organizing march in Washington to ban assault rifles

A North Shore mother fed up with gun violence after the mass shooting in Highland Park is turning her anger into action, organizing a march in Washington, D.C., to ban assault-style weapons.

Kitty Brandtner was at the Winnetka Fourth of July parade when she heard about the Highland Park parade shooting Monday. She has friends who ran from the barrage of some 80 shots fired by a gunman with a high-powered semi-automatic rifle. After crying for a day, Brandtner decided to act.

“We’re not going to just sit in depression and sorrow,” she said. “We’re going to do something.”

With a hastily organized committee of 55 volunteers, Brandtner has put together plans for a march Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol.

So far, more than 300 people had signed up to make the trip and a GoFundMe page had raised $47,000 for the effort. The money will help pay for survivors from the parade to go to Washington.

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Brandtner says both conservatives and liberals are joining the cause to stop repeated mass shootings. Public opinion polls repeatedly have shown that most Americans want more restrictions on guns.

Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, said the Highland Park shooting was terrible, but an assault weapons ban is vague and wouldn’t work.

“I’m sure we’re all frustrated by what happened there,” Pearson said. “If things were done properly, this would never happen.”

Illinois already has a law providing for verification of firearm owner identification before gun sales, he said. In his online column for the ISRA Bulletin, Pearson suggested reinstating the death penalty in Illinois, stricter law enforcement measures to keep violent criminals locked up, and monitoring social media and juvenile records for background checks.

A small group of volunteers and survivors hopes to meet with members of Congress before the march.

“We cannot let this keep happening to our country, our neighbors, our children,” Brandtner wrote. “We must mandate universal background checks and ban assault weapons. Join us.”

rmccoppin@chicagotribune.com