HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. — The ongoing fight for gun control measures that many Highland Park residents have been championing continued to be discussed Thursday night on the one-month anniversary of the shooting.

David Sallak is a father who was at the parade.

“I was at the parade, I saw the shooter – he shot at my son, shot at the families,” he said.

Sallak, like so many others in Highland Park, has spent the weeks since  channeling his grief into a fight for a ban on semi-automatic weapons.

“I’m a former NRA member, sharp shooter,” Sallak said. “Home protection fine by me. I’m against mass slaughter of citizens and communities in seconds.”

He joined families at the victims’ memorial to mark one month since a shooter took seven lives and forever changed dozens of others.

Mother of four Sonia Cohen has traveled back and forth to Washington D.C. – driven for change.

“I’m not political, I’m not an activist, I’m just a mom,” Cohen said. “But this mom has had enough you know, I’m pissed off and I’m determined to get this done.”

It’s the residents’ determination that Congressman Brad Schneider (D-IL) credits for helping pass the assault weapons ban in the House last week.

“I’ve had many members tell me those stories had an impact,” he said.

Earlier this week, the accused gunman in the shooting pleaded not guilty. He is scheduled back in court Nov. 1.