Illinois Democrat hopes Uvalde survivor’s testimony will ‘change hearts and minds’ on gun control

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) said in a new interview that he hopes the testimony of an Uvalde fourth grade student who survived the school shooting by pretending to be dead will help sway public opinion on gun control. 

Miah Cerrillo, an 11-year-old student from Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, is one of nine individuals scheduled to testify before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Wednesday, according to a Friday announcement.

Krishnamoorthi told CNN’s Jim Sciutto on Monday that he believes it’s “really important” that people start to realize the “huge human impact” of gun violence.

“And having these children as well as the field of victims testifying really brings it home as to what happens when we do nothing about gun violence,” he added.

The Illinois Democrat said the U.S. is “in a special moment” in which a majority of people on both sides of the aisle want to do something to stem gun violence.

The hearing comes less than a month after a gunman fatally shot 10 Black individuals at a grocery store in Buffalo, N.Y., as well as the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, which left 19 children and two adults dead. 

Miah told CNN last week that she covered herself in her classmate’s blood and played dead to protect herself amid the school shooting.

The House is slated to vote on a bill that would nationalize red flag laws, which are meant to keep firearms away from people deemed a threat to themselves or others.

It remains unclear, however, whether that legislation can get through the Senate.