Highland Park City Council passes resolution calling for state and federal bans on assault weapons

CHICAGO (CBS) — City leaders in Highland Park are calling on Congress and the Illinois General Assembly to ban semi-automatic assault weapons.

A resolution approved by the Highland Park City Council on Wednesday also would call for state and federal bans on body armor and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

The vote comes more than a month after seven people were killed and at least 48 others were wounded in a shooting at the 4th of July parade in Highland Park.

Highland Park banned assault weapons in 2013 in the wake of the shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut.

However, city officials say state and federal action is needed to ban the manufacture, purchase, sale, possession, and use of semi-automatic assault weapons, high-capacity ammunition cartridges and magazines, and body armor; except as needed by the military and law enforcement agencies.

“I have been speaking to lawmakers near and far about what happened in Highland Park on the Fourth of July and how we must work together to stop gun violence in our state and in our nation. As part of this effort, tonight, members of this City Council are once again urging a ban on assault weapons and large capacity magazines on a wider scale,” Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering said in prepared remarks for Monday’s council meeting. “Mass shootings are a uniquely American problem and Highland Park is not an island. No community is safe until broader action is taken. The resolution we are considering supports both state and federal laws that ban assault weapons and large capacity magazines. It reflects the values of our community and sends a clear message that state and federal action is critical to reducing the likelihood of additional mass shootings. No city, town, or village should have to endure the devastation and trauma of a mass shooting.”

Gov. JB Pritzker also has called for a ban on assault weapons. The Illinois General Assembly isn’t scheduled to be back in session until the veto session in November and December.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved an assault weapons ban last month, but the proposal appears to be doomed in the Senate, where Republicans are all but certain to block it with a filibuster.