California rep ‘could not believe the extent of the violence’ in dance hall shooting

Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), who represents and was the former mayor of Monterey Park, Calif., said she “could not believe the extent of the violence” of the mass shooting in the town that left 10 people dead over the weekend.

“This is one of the worst mass shootings in L.A. County and one of the worst in the nation,” Chu said to CBS on Monday. “I was also outraged because there are far too many of these mass shootings going on.”

The shooting just outside of downtown Los Angeles also left 10 people injured and happened after a Lunar New Year celebration on Saturday night. The suspect, 72-year-old Huu Can Tran, shot and killed himself after police surrounded a van he was in on Sunday, according to law enforcement. 

Chu, who is a member of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force that works to find commonsense solutions to gun violence, said that lawmakers had to take action to make sure that further shootings did not happen.

“We have worked on legislation that should have passed a long time ago,” Chu said. “I want to say to those who are resistant to these gun safety laws: protect America, protect your fellow neighbors. You don’t know if the next person could be your loved one.”

Chu has supported policies such as universal background check laws, which she said have a proven track record of keeping weapons out of the hands of potential offenders.

“We know there are concrete, commonsense steps that we can take to stop all this terrible and senseless violence,” Chu said.