Rep. Chu calls for tighter gun laws after Calif. shooting: "Protect America"

Rep. Judy Chu, who represents Monterey Park, California, said she couldn't believe the extent of the violence when she heard of Saturday's massacre at the Star Ballroom Dance

Studio — "one of the worst mass shootings in L.A. County." Chu, who is a former mayor of the California city and as a longtime resident, also said she was outraged "because

there are far too many of these mass shootings going on." "We have to take actions to make sure that people are safe in America," she said.   Chu, who represents

California's 28th congressional district, is part of the gun safety caucus in Congress. She said the group has worked on gun control legislation including on universal background

checks that would "take guns out of dangerous people's hands." She said it should have passed "a long time ago." "I want to say to those who are resistant to these gun

safety laws: Protect America. Protect your fellow neighbors. You don't know if the next person could be your loved one," she said.    The massacre, which left 10 people

dead, was the fifth mass killing in the United States this month. It occurred during a Lunar New Year celebration. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said five men and

five women were killed at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio. After the shooting, the suspect, identified as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran, entered the Lai Lai Ballroom in nearby Alhambra,

but some individuals wrestled the firearm away from him and he took off.  After an hours-long manhunt, the suspect was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound,

investigators said.