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St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones on Tuesday called on Congress to ban “weapons of war” and raise the age to purchase assault weapons to ensure her city continues to see a drop in violence.
”We have to get guns off our street. Period. Stop,” Jones told Meet the Press Now. “That still makes a difference in how successful we are in continuing our programs.”
St. Louis saw a decrease in violence last year, which Jones credited to an “all-hands-on-deck” approach focused on crime prevention and deterrence. She also touted a program pairing behavioral health specialists with police officers.
Jones called on the state and federal government to take action on gun control to help prevent further violence.
”We need action on the federal level and the state level but no one one wants to seem to do anything,” she said.
Jones said one proposal that could help her city would be “getting rid of high capacity weapons.” She also called on lawmakers to raise the age to purchase an assault rifle from 18 to 21.
“I am cautiously optimistic that Congress will act, but unfortunately we’ve seen this before,” she said.