NEW YORK — Vice President Harris railed against gun violence and attacks on democracy in a New York City speech Friday before activists and elected officials at the National Action Network.
In a keynote address at the civil rights organization’s annual convention, Harris called out pretenders blocking democracy under the guise of freedom, and urged legislators from coast to coast to pass meaningful gun control in the face of ongoing mass shootings.
“We must have reasonable gun safety laws at the state and federal level. And by the way, most gun owners agree,” Harris said.
The vice president decried a rash of mass shootings including an attack by a gunman last week at a Louisville bank that killed five people, one of more than 150 mass shootings already this year.
And even though Black people make up only 13% of the population, African Americans have been 60% of the homicide victims from gun violence, she said.
Harris noted that the National Action Network’s convention was happening at the same time as the National Rifle Association was holding its yearly meetings in Indianapolis.
“They have called it a freedom-filled weekend,” Harris said. “So we must ask, freedom filled for who exactly? Let us all declare enough is enough.”
Harris also expressed her support for Black democratic legislators in Tennessee who were reinstalled after being removed by Republicans who said they broke protocol in their calls for gun control.
“Please be clear,” Harris said. “The voices of students, parents, teachers and preachers will not be silenced. And these voices must be heard.”
Ten members of the Biden-Harris administration have spoken or were scheduled to speak over the course of the four-day convention, including U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Alejandro Mayorkas, who heads the Department of Homeland Security.
Susan Rice, the director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, generated some buzz on Wednesday when she talked about the financial cost of discrimination.
“In the last 20 years, the U.S. had a shortfall of $16 trillion due to discrimination against Black Americans,” she said in a statement that sparked criticism from conservatives on social media.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network has appeared with Harris before.
Last year, the pair attended a funeral for one of the victims of the mass shooting in Buffalo, where Sharpton urged Harris to speak.
And in February, Sharpton delivered the eulogy at the funeral of Tyre Nichols, who died soon after a violent beating at the hands of Memphis police officers.
Harris addressed Nichols’ death again.
“You should be able to drive to your mother’s house without being killed,” she said. “When we talk about public safety, was not Tyre a member of the public? Was not Tyre also entitled to be safe?”
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