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Dozens of Texas Students Urge Governor Abbott to Take Action to Prevent Gun Violence in Open Letter and Full-Page Ad in Houston Chronicle

May 22, 2018

Forty-One Students from Across Texas Wrote an Open Letter to Gov. Abbott Urging Him to “Stand up for Public Safety Instead of Pandering to the Gun Lobby”

The Letter Is Featured as a Full-Page Ad in Today’s Houston Chronicle

AUSTIN, Texas – Today, 41 students from across Texas, supported by the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, published an open letter to Gov. Greg Abbott as a full-page ad in the Houston Chronicle. In the letter, the students write, “Our job is to be good students. Your job is to keep us safe. You have failed at your job. Like so many politicians cozy with the NRA, you have steadfastly opposed any reasonable measures that might protect us from gun violence.” They close by asking, “We are dying on your watch. What will you do about it?”

STATEMENT FROM KATIE SILVERMAN, VOLUNTEER WITH STUDENTS DEMAND ACTION AND HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR IN SOUTHLAKE, TEXAS WHO SIGNED THE LETTER TO GOV. ABBOTT:

“I am tired of being scared at school. I am tired of waiting for news of the latest mass shooting to break. And, I’m tired of politicians like Gov. Abbott who cash checks from the NRA while refusing to pass – or even consider – policies that would make Texas safer. Students across our state are asking Gov. Abbott: What will do you do protect us?”

The letter is a response to the shooting last week at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, in which 10 people died and 13 more were injured. Research by Everytown for Gun Safety shows that this is at least the 184th mass shooting since January 2009, and at least the eighth mass shooting this year. Since January 2009, Texas has experienced at least 20 mass shootings – more than any other state in the country.

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