Sen. Mark Kirk wants to name new gun bill after Hadiya Pendleton

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Illinois senator Mark Kirk (R) plans to name a new gun bill after slain Chicago teen, Hadiya Pendleton.

The day after attending President Obama’s State of the Union Address, Pendleton’s parents met with Sen. Mark Kirk in Washington, D.C.

“Today, I sat down with Illinois families who lost loved ones due to senseless gun violence,” Sen. Kirk’s official statement reads.  “I asked Cleopatra Pendleton, mother of 15-year-old Hadiya who was shot and killed by gang gunfire in Chicago, for permission to name anti-illegal gun trafficking legislation after her daughter.”

The 15-year-old was gunned down on January 29th at a park in her Chicago neighborhood while seeking shelter from the rain.  The shooters mistook Pendleton and her friends for rival gang members. Two arrests have been made.

Sen. Kirk is working closely with New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) to pass the first bipartisan gun safety bill introduced to this Congress.

Just one day following Pendleton’s death, the two proposed the gun safety bill that will for the first time define gun trafficking and make it a federal crime.

“I am proud to work with Senator Kirk who shares my commitment to cracking down on gun trafficking to keep illegal guns off our streets,” Sen. Gillibrand said in a statement.  “Our bipartisan bill will save lives, it is not a Republican or Democratic idea, it is just the right idea.”

A spokesman for Sen. Kirk told the Chicago Tribune, he “understood Hadiya’s parents to be ‘receptive’ to the idea” of the gun safety bill being named after their daughter.

On discussing the legislation with Pendleton’s parents, Sen. Kirk said: “I reiterated that one of my top priorities this year is to pass legislation that will dry up the supply of illegal weapons to dangerous drug gangs who are committing these senseless acts of violence.”

“For Hadiya and thousands of other victims of gun violence, we must break through the typical Washington process and actually get something done that will save lives.”

Follow Carrie Healey on Twitter @CarrieHeals.