Highland Park moms join march in D.C. to demand assault weapons ban
WASHINGTON, D.C. (CBS) -- Their pain is strong, and so is their mission. Hundreds of people are marching on Capitol Hill to demand new efforts to stop gun violence, among them mothers still reeling from last week's deadly mass shooting in Highland Park, which left 7 people dead and dozens more wounded.
The group is demanding a federal ban on assault weapons. Mothers and community members from Highland Park are among them. So are at least 50 community members from Uvalde, Texas, where 19 students and 2 teachers were killed in a school shooting in May.
"I'm somebody who wants to go to a 4th of July parade safely. I am done being scared in public spaces because somebody says that their rights are more important than ours. That is not the way we live in this country," one woman said.
This mother of two and teacher from Highland Park was one of several people who spoke at the "March Fourth Enough" rally in D.C.
She said she was at last week's 4th of July parade, and she and her family had to dodge bullets when the shooting started.
Then there was another speaker, Abby Brosio, also a mom from Highland Park, who brought up the ongoing struggle of 8-year-old Cooper Roberts, whose spine was severed when he was shot at the parade. It left him paralyzed from the waist down, and his battle to survive isn't over.
She said, while she and her kids made it home safely that day, they are still plagued by what happened.
"My family doesn't feel free. I am constantly anticipating my next panic attack, the next time my 3-year-old will verbalize and question a memory from that day, my daughter's sudden clinginess to us, or how my husband might react going back to his work in Highland Park. These feelings make me feel trapped, not free," Brosio said.
Many others directly affected by gun violence joined the march in D.C., including members of Congress, and the parents of some of the young victims killed in Uvalde.