Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker responded to a National Rifle Association tweet by telling the advocacy organization to leave his state “the hell alone” one day after a gunman opened fire at a Fourth of July parade in a Chicago suburb, killing seven people and wounding dozens of others.
The NRA tweeted on Tuesday that “since 1950, 94% of mass public shootings occurred in gun-free zones,” citing a Crime Prevention Research Center study.
And 100% of mass public shootings happen with guns.
As Governor, on behalf of the people of Highland Park — leave us the hell alone. https://t.co/biBV75pWxA
— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) July 6, 2022
The Democratic governor responded to the tweet saying, “and 100% of mass public shootings happen with guns.”
“As Governor, on behalf of the people of Highland Park — leave us the hell alone,” he added.
The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence ranked Illinois eighth in the nation for strictest gun laws in 2021. “Assault rifles,” including AR-15s, have been banned in Highland Park since 2013.
Still, Pritzker has advocated for stricter gun regulations in the wake of the parade massacre.
“Our Founders carried muskets, not assault weapons,” the governor said on Monday. “And I don’t think a single one of them would have said that you have a constitutional right to an assault weapon with a high capacity magazine, or that that is more important than the right of the people who attended this parade today to live.”
The alleged gunman had a collection of knives confiscated by police in 2019 after he threatened to “kill everyone” at his house, but was still able to pass several background checks in the years that followed to legally obtain firearms, police said.
At the time of 2019 incident, a family member reported that the suspect “said he was going to kill everyone and… had a collection of knives,” said Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli, before adding that there was no probable cause for arrest at that time.
Despite being flagged as a “clear and present danger,” the shooter later passed four separate background checks in 2020 and 2021.
Police said the shooter owned five firearms, including the rifle used in Monday’s deadly massacre and one that was found in his car at the time of his arrest. He faces seven counts of first-degree murder in connection with the parade shooting that left seven people dead and dozens of others injured.
Lake County State’s attorney, Eric Rinehart, said he will face “dozens more charges centering around each of the victims.” Rinehart’s office plans to seek a mandatory life sentence.