Gov. Bruce Rauner issued an order Monday to ensure that flags will fly at half-staff in Illinois the rest of the week in honor of the victims of a mass shooting in Las Vegas.
A gunman on the 32nd floor of a hotel-casino rained heavy fire down on an outdoor country music festival late Sunday. At least 59 people died and 527 others were injured, officials said, making it the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.
Flags at government buildings across Illinois were already lowered Monday afternoon as politicians appeared united by grief - but divided over whether the events that unfolded in Las Vegas should or will lead to stricter gun control policies. [[449002033, C]]
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in the wake of the massacre is the right time to renew a ban on assault weapons.
"This situation, with proper, responsible gun control laws can actually prevent a horrific, the worst ever in american history, situations," Emanuel said. "What we're doing today is not working," he added.
In a radio interview, Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-Chicago) said he doubts there will be changes in terms of stricter gun laws.
"Look, do I think the Congress is going to do anything? No," he said. "Congress is a wholly owned subsidiary of the NRA, everybody knows that."
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"Just so that we're clear, it's bi-partisan, Democrats aren't going to do anything, 'cause the last time they passed the Brady Bill, and they passed the assault weapons ban, guess what happened? We lost 100 seats in the next election."
Republican Congressman Rodney Davis, who survived the June shooting when congressman were fired at in a Virginia baseball field took to Twitter to say that he was "Heartbroken by the senseless tragedy in Las Vegas. Praying for the victims of this horrific shooting." [[449074953, C]]
Fellow GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger said he was, "Horrified by news of #LasVegas massacre. Mourning the innocent lives taken by pure evil - praying for their families & for the injured."
In the wake of the shooting, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin posed a question.
"Can we protect the 2nd Amendment rights of every American, yet draw reasonable lines at the types of weapons that are being sold and say that there are some that have no legitimate legal purpose?" he asked.
But during Monday's White House briefing, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it is premature to talk about policy changes to the nation's gun laws - citing Chicago as an example.
"One of the things we don’t want to do is try to create laws that don’t stop these types of things from happening," she said during the briefing. "Look to Chicago where you had over 4,000 victims of gun-related crimes last year. They have the strictest gun laws in the country. That certainly hasn’t helped there."
