Whenever there’s talk about how to curb gun violence, two words often come up: assault weapons. Illinois is one of 10 states — plus Washington, D.C. — with a so-called assault weapons ban on the books. WTTW News Explains what that ban does. 

Murder charges filed against the father of a 14-year-old boy accused of a Georgia school shooting follow the successful prosecution of two parents in Michigan who were held responsible for a similar tragedy at a school north of Detroit.

An estimated 3 million children and teens are exposed to shootings every year in America. More than 1,300 of them have occurred in schools in the past decade.

In a decision released Friday, Judge Iain D. Johnston said under current U.S. Supreme Court standards, the law violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. 

It wasn’t just politicians and celebrities who took the stage at last week’s Democratic National Convention. Advocates shared their stories about how gun violence has impacted their lives and inspired them to take action. Edgar Vilchez, 19, was one of those speakers.

At an event in Homan Square, panelists ranging from youth violence prevention organizers to people who work in banking shared how they’re trying to curb violence in the city.

“We are expanding this lawsuit to ensure that other irresponsible actors who have contributed to the proliferation of easily modified Glocks in our city are held accountable for their role in this deadly new frontier plaguing Chicago’s residents and communities,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.   

The shooter who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump on Saturday normally would have been at work that day, but he told his boss he needed that the day off because he had “something to do,” according to multiple law enforcement officials.

Even after successfully breaking into his phone and searching his computer, scouring his search history and bedroom, and interviewing his family and friends, agents still haven’t found evidence that would suggest political or ideological impetus for the shooting, law enforcement sources told CNN.

“There is no place in America for this kind of violence — for any violence. Ever. Period. No exception. We can’t allow this violence to be normalized,” President Joe Biden said.

The FBI early Sunday identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as it pressed its investigation. An FBI official said investigators had not yet determined a motive.

A day after a Fourth of July shooting killed two women and an 8-year-old boy in Chicago, police were investigating two other mass shootings that wounded 14 people in the city early Friday.

The July 4, 2022, shooting took seven lives and wounded dozens of people. As Highland Park officials planned the first parade since the shooting, victims have been trying to make sense of what happened, many of them feeling fresh pain.

The Gun Violence Archive, which tracks mass shootings involving four or more people regardless of whether they died, shows June, July, and August have had the highest total number of mass shootings over the past decade. The lowest totals were from December through March.

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a series of challenges to Illinois’ assault weapons ban — for now — but a pair of justices indicated a willingness to take up the case in the future.

Bump stocks became the focus of gun control debate following a 2017 mass shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas. A gunman used weapons equipped with bump stocks to fire more than 1,000 rounds into a crowd in a matter of minutes, killing 60 people and injuring more than 400.