NEW YORK — Everytown for Gun Safety and its grassroots networks, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, released the following statements as President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden visit Uvalde, Texas today to pay respects to those killed in Tuesday’s shooting at Robb Elementary School.
“As someone who knows the pain of losing a child, President Biden is one of the few leaders who can even begin to provide comfort to those who are suffering what should be an unthinkable loss,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “Now it’s time for the Senate to show up for the American people and take action to prevent other families from experiencing the horrors we saw at Robb Elementary School.”
“The Uvalde community will never be the same without the 19 children and two teachers that were taken from it on Tuesday,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action. “As President Biden meets with the families and survivors, the Senate has the power to take action and ensure that no family has to know the pain they are going through right now.”
On Friday, Everytown for Gun Safety released an outline of six things the Senate can do to take action to prevent more senseless shootings. There has been a groundswell of support for the Senate to take action, including hundreds gathering outside the Capitol on Thursday morning following the shooting, more than 200 school walkouts nationwide organized by Students Demand Action on Thursday, and thousands of Texans showing up on Friday morning and protesting outside of the NRA convention.
Gun violence is the leading cause of death among children and teens in the United States. Prior to Tuesday’s shooting, so far this year, there have been at least 77 incidents of gunfire on school grounds, resulting in 14 deaths and 45 injuries nationally — 6 of these incidents took place in Texas. Tuesday’s shooting in Uvalde took place in a predominantly Latinx community, where systemic inequities across institutions and generations of racial discrimination have exacerbated this public health crisis and create a disproportionate impact.
