Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Friday called on Congress and President Donald Trump to pass universal background checks, noting the "patchwork of state laws" allows weapons to be brought across state lines.
"We have to have a uniform system," Lightfoot told MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "Given the inaction, let's take the first step."
However, if someone comes in from the outside who does not understand Chicago, they will be of limited or no help, or worse, said the mayor.
"We are working on building relationships between communities and the police," she said. "We have a plan and a strategy that is making progress. What we need is federal laws that do universal background checks, so we can stop guns from floating over the border from Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has said he does not want to take up a bill with "red flag" laws on it, but Lightfoot disagreed with that stance.
"I think if we have this moment where the Republicans are saying they're willing to actually move forward, where Mitch McConnell isn't being a complete obstructionist, we have to take advantage of that moment," the mayor said. "I have a lot of respect for Sen. Schumer, but now is the time to get something done."
Meanwhile, it is not doing cities like Chicago a lot of good to label Trump as a white supremacist, Lightfoot said.
"It doesn't get the job done for my residents," she said. "If you constantly chase after every single tweet, every single thing that he does on social media, you're missing the point."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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