VP Kamala Harris in Chicago as IL Supreme Court upholds assault weapons ban

CHICAGO (CBS) -- In a ruling handed down Friday, the judges from the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that Illinois's ban on assault weapons is constitutional. 

The 4 to 3 decision allows the state's assault weapons ban to stay in place.

The court refuted a central Illinois lawmaker's lawsuit that claimed: "The law is applied unequally."  People with a semi-automatic weapon before the law can keep it, but they must register those guns by January first.

Hours later, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at an annual gun safety conference in Chicago.

CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot was there.

For many attending, their reasons were very personal, after losing a loved one to gun violence.

Thousands of attendees, from all over the country, including student volunteers and survivors of gun violence, attended the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund's annual conference at McCormick Place.

They've come together to share ideas on ways to combat gun violence. Vice-President Kamala Harris spoke at the event. For many attending, the reason for their involvement was very personal, like Valerie Burgest. 

Her son was murdered in Chicago 10 years ago.

"That's what compelled me to get involved in this movement because who wants to bury their child? I most certainly didn't anticipate having to do that," said Burgest, of the Everytown Survivor Network and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

"I know who's here, and so many of the leaders who are here are here because you have chosen to translate your grief and your fear into the empowerment of communities in our country, and it's an extraordinary thing that you're doing," Harris said.

Harris told those in the audience that while President Biden's administration passed the first meaningful gun safety legislation in 30 years, lawmakers need to do more.

In:
• Illinois Supreme Court
• Gun Control
• Gun Laws
• Mass Shootings