Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usah, visited Minneapolis on Wednesday to pay his respects to the victims of last week's mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church.

On Aug. 27, a shooter firing through the windows of the church during a school Mass killed two children and injured 21 other people — most of them also kids. Two children remain hospitalized as of Wednesday, one of them being in critical condition.  

The Vances, who are both Catholic, arrived at the church just after noon and laid flowers at the memorial there. Officials with the vice president's office said the couple also visited "the church sanctuary, the site of the shooting."

The couple were on Annunciation's campus for more than 90 minutes, and are said to have met privately with the parents of 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski, the children killed in the attack. They also met with Annunciation's pastor and school principal, Father Dennis Zehren and Matt DeBoer.

The Vances then traveled about five miles north to Children's Minnesota hospital, where they visited 12-year-old shooting victim Lydia Kaiser and her family.  

Protesters gather as calls for gun control grow

Several people gathered near Annunciation during the vice presidential visit, many with signs calling for more common sense gun restrictions.

One of them was Kacie Sharpe, a mother who said her son was inside the church during the attack. Sharpe and her family are mourning the loss of Merkel.

"He misses his best friend. Fletcher was such a sweet kid and he was such a good friend and we loved him dearly," Sharpe said.

Sharpe is now asking the vice president to make a change.

"Something has to be done, and I would beg him please, please do something, anything," she said. "And one thing that can be done is banning these weapons."

Before the Vances departed Minnesota on Air Force Two, the vice president shared a message with the media.

"We should talk more about these kids. We should talk less about this shooter. We should talk less about the crazy person who took these children from us," JD Vance said. "We should talk about these kids, their hopes and their dreams, and the fact that they had a full life ahead of them that was cut short."

Hours after the shooting, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said, "Don't just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying."

That response drew criticism from the vice president.

"It is shocking to me that so many left-wing politicians attack the idea of prayer in response to a tragedy," JD Vance posted to X. "Literally no one thinks prayer is a substitute for action. We pray because our hearts are broken and we believe that God is listening."

On Wednesday morning in Washington, D.C., Minnesota Congressman and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer echoed the vice president's sentiment.

"We pray because, despite what some may say, prayer is powerful," Emmer said. "The way forward is to address the mental health crisis and empower law enforcement to crack down on crime."  

In the days following the shooting, community members and other elected officials, including Frey, have been calling for change.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz confirmed on Tuesday he wants a special session to vote on a gun control package that would include a ban on assault weapons.  

Several Twin Cities mayors also gathered on Tuesday to call on state lawmakers to address gun violence and change a law that prohibits cities from passing their own gun reforms.

Rob Doar, the senior vice president of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, said he doesn't believe new gun control proposals will pass. 

"I understand the need to look at potential gaps in the systems, but it seems like this is being used as a mechanism to enact a much larger, broader gun control agenda with many items that have nothing to do with the tragedy," Doar said.

Gun violence advocates, however, point to the recent success Minnesota has had in passing gun safety policies.

In 2023, a DFL-controlled legislature passed expanded background checks on people buying guns. In 2024, the legislature boosted penalties for straw gun purchases. The bill had bipartisan support, but Republicans didn't support other provisions, including a ban on binary triggers, a device that can double the rate of fire. Last month, a judge struck the provision down.

Even with a trifecta, the DFL Party wasn't able to get a couple of gun laws across the finish line, including safe gun storage and reporting requirements for lost or stolen guns. A bill that would've banned assault weapons and large-capacity magazines was introduced, but never got a hearing.