Liam Hendriks, the former Minnesota Twins pitcher now plying his trade for the Chicago White Sox, is attracting headlines after calling for action on guns in the wake of the mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Illinois Monday.
Six people were killed and dozens were injured after a gunman fired dozens of shots from a rooftop as the parade took place in Highland Park, a northern suburb of Chicago.
Just hours later, the White Sox played the Twins in Chicago, with a moment of silence held to commemorate the victims of the shooting.
In the wake of the game, which the Twins won 6-3, Hendriks didn’t pull his punches when asked about the events of Independence Day just 30 miles north of Guaranteed Rate Field.
“Unfortunately, in this day and age, it’s becoming all too commonplace,” Hendriks, a native of Australia, told reporters following the game. “I think the access to the weaponry that is being kind of used in these things is …. Something needs to change. Something needs to be done. Something needs to happen because there’s way too many people losing their lives and it’s not only about the people who lose their lives.
“Too many people are dying and it’s no excuse to say, ‘I’m on this side or that side.’ At some point, things need to get done or else it’s getting to the point where civilization as you know it may be ending just to the fact there’s two drastically different sides.”
Hendriks played for the Twins between 2011 and 2013, having been signed by the organization out of Australia in 2007. While he initially struggled in the major leagues, in recent years he has become one of the best closers in the game, first with the Oakland A’s and now with the White Sox.
The Highland Park shooting is the latest in a growing number of gun massacres in the United States, coming less than six weeks after a shooting that left 19 elementary students and two teachers dead in Uvalde, Texas, which itself came ten days after a mass shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, in which ten people were killed.
They have sparked renewed calls for new gun control measures, most of which are opposed by Republicans in Congress and state legislatures. A bill has passed Congress following the Uvalde massacre however, which when signed will enhance background checks for gun buyers under 21, offer incentives for states to implement red flag laws, and strengthen laws against straw purchasing and gun trafficking.
While Illinois has among some of the strongest gun control laws in the country, it is surrounded by states with weaker laws, such as Indiana and Wisconsin.
A recent analysis of gun crime in Illinois found that only around half of guns used in crimes in the state actually come from Illinois.
