PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — During a press conference Friday morning, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) called for stricter legislation to combat an ongoing struggle with gun violence at both the federal and local level.
The conference, held around 10:30 a.m., Friday comes as two mass shootings rocked the nation in May and Portland continues to battle a wave of gun violence.
Just three days after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, Wyden pointed the finger at the National Rifle Association, calling its annual convention in Houston “a shameless gathering of death.”
Former President Donald Trump and other Republican leaders are scheduled to speak at the convention which began amid protests Friday.
“I’ve got one word for all of them,” Wyden said. “Enough.”
“Enough of our great country being the only western industrialized nation that shrugs its shoulders at the massacre of children,” he said. “Enough of the cliches and excuses. Enough with letting those convicted of crimes hurting women and kids keep their guns.”
“A gun massacre of Texas kids just a few days after a gun massacre by a white supremacist of Black people shopping in a Buffalo supermarket,” Wyden said before mentioning gun violence in Oregon.
He is urging Congress to act on gun control, but defended his position saying he strongly supports “law-abiding citizens to own guns for protection and for the hunt.”
Among other priorities, Wyden said he wants to ban “assault weapons,” implement universal background checks for firearm purchases, limit guns on campuses and keep them out of the hands of domestic terrorists.
“All of that can make a real difference in reducing the risk of these mass shootings as well as tackling the increase in reported shooting incidents here in our hometown,” he said.
Watch the conference in full in the video player below.