BUFFALO, N.Y. — There is a renewed push to pass federal legislation that supporters believe could stop future events like the racist mass shooting at the Tops Supermarket on Jefferson Avenue.
"The Aaron Salter, Jr. Responsible Body Armor Possession Act" is named after the security guard and former Buffalo Police Lt. who tried to stop the gunman that killed ten people on May 14, 2022.
The goal of the bill named in Salter Jr.’s honor is to restrict what types of body armor can be sold to the general public.
“Military grade assault weapons don't belong on our streets neither does military grade armor and it is time that we do something about it,” said Zeneta Everhart.
Everhart’s son Zaire working at the Tops at the time of the shooting and was hit by gunfire. He survived.
Lt. Salter did not.
The gunman was wearing enhanced or Level 4 body armor, according to Buffalo Police, which protected him when Salter Jr. tried to intervene.
“Lt. Aaron Salter's round was dead on target, we know that from where it hit the vest. We also know from the video it had zero effect,” Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said during a press conference Thursday.
Body armor is ranked on a scale from Level IIA to IV based on its ballistic resistance, as determined by the National Institute of Justice, a branch of the U.S. Justice Department.
The bill which was first submitted last year would restrict the public from owning or purchasing body armor that is level III or greater, with noted exceptions for military, law enforcement, and security members.
“If not for that body armor Aaron Salter working as a security guard at the Tops would have been able to stop that individual from committing mass murder,” said Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown.
Shortly after the Tops shooting, New York State passed its own law restricting the purchase or possession of body armor unless an individual has an approved profession.
However, as Commissioner Gramaglia noted, there is nothing stopping someone from purchasing Level III, III+, or IV body armor in another state and then bringing it to New York, hence why he and 70 of the largest municipal police departments in the United States and Canada support legislation like the Responsible Body Armor Act.
The bill was presented during the last session of Congress, but it failed to make it out of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
When asked how it could do this session, Congressman Brian Higgins, one of the lead sponsors on the bill along with Bronx Congresswoman Grace Meng said they will try.
“This is an effort that you just have to persist… these are very rational and common-sense approaches toward the goal of not bringing those that were killed back because that won't happen, but we can prevent this from happening again,” Higgins said.
The bill would not affect high-level body armor that someone already owns and would also continue to allow Level IIA, II, and IIIA vests, which can be penetrated by lower-level ammunition.