'We can't live like this': Chicago area activists to attend DC march for assault weapons ban

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Calls for an assault weapons ban in the U.S. growing louder, with around 1,200 people heading back to Washington, D.C. to march for change.

"Blood is on the hands of our elected officials. We need to take action, and so we're returning to demand that it happen now," said Aubrey McCarthy, a March Fourth board member.

McCarthy is leaving for D.C. on Sunday.

The Hinsdale mom is part of March Fourth, a nonpartisan group that's been pushing for an assault weapons ban since the Highland Park tragedy last summer.

On Monday, McCarthy and other demonstrators will rally at the National Mall in D.C. in their latest push for change following mass shootings at the Covenant School in Nashville and the Old National Bank in Louisville.

McCarthy said fearing for the safety of her children should not be the norm.

"I am constantly looking around any corner of a building that I dropped them off to, walk into with a fear that is this the last time I'm gonna have them again. We can't live like this," McCarthy said.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been at least 163 mass shootings with four or more victims so far this year in the U.S.

Organizers of Monday's rally said enough is enough.

"There are two bills ready to be brought to a vote in both the House and Senate, and we need it brought to a vote now," McCarthy said.

McCarthy said their fight will not stop until lawmakers take action.

"We are not going to solve every single problem with putting that ban in place, but that has to be able to put a Band-Aid over this crisis for now," she said.