WASHINGTON, D.C. — Highland Park’s mayor is in Washington D.C. Wednesday morning for a hearing on mass shootings.

Nancy Rotering spoke before the Senate Judiciary Committee about access to military-style assault weapons and protecting communities.

The July Fourth parade attack in Highland Park was the 309th mass shooting this year.

Rotering was the driving force behind Highland Park’s ban on assault weapons and large capacity magazines, which was passed in 2013.

There are two simultaneous judiciary committee meetings taking place simultaneously.

One is in the House to do the markup of HR1808 which is the proposed legislation that would ban the sale, import, manufacture or transfer of certain semi-automatic weapons.

And the other hearing is in the Senate.

Aubrey McCarthy is a member of the March Fourth group and said they hope the new assault weapon ban bill is able to get approved today and sent to the House floor. 

“I just cannot believe that this subject matter is still here,” she said. “And we are very motivated for this to end once and for all so that assault weapons are banned at the federal level.”

McCarthy said the benefits of this ban would help prevent dangerous people who use guns to commit terrible acts of violence.

But according to the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, they state the proposed bill does not address the problem of violent crimes and criminals.

They said it doesn’t provide appreciable benefit to public safety, but instead infringe the rights of law-abiding Americans.