OLYMPIA, Wash. — On Tuesday, family members of mass shooting victims called on legislators in Olympia to ban the sale of assault weapons.
AR-15-style weapons have been used in several mass shootings, including at a Las Vegas concert in 2017, where Carrie Parsons was among 58 people killed.
“No one was targeted that night. They were all mowed down. None of them stood a chance,” said her mother, Anne-Marie Parsons. “Our family has to live forever with the knowledge that she was killed, shot in the back while she was running for her life.”
An assault weapon rifle was also used by the school shooter in Parkland, Florida, who killed Robert Schentrup’s sister, Carmen.
“As I know all too well, assault weapons are the weapons of choice for mass shooters,” Schentrup said.
Schentrup testified in support of a state bill to ban manufacturing, distributing and selling assault weapons.
“The term assault weapon is a manufactured term to garner fear,” Aoibheann Cline of the National Rifle Association told lawmakers. “It would ban the shotgun I use every fall for duck hunting with my dad.”
The NRA calls the AR-15 the country’s most popular self-defense rifle.
“This dangerously takes away the personal protection option of choice that’s best for women,” said Pierce County resident Jane Milhans.
This is the seventh year the legislature has considered banning the sale of assault weapons.
The bill allows exceptions for dealers selling to the military and law enforcement and for people who inherit an assault weapon.
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