NEW YORK — Everytown for Gun Safety and its grassroots network, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, issued the following statements today ahead of Saturday’s five-year mark of the mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas in which 23 people were shot and killed and 22 others were shot and wounded. The mass-shooting is recorded as the deadliest attack against the Latinx community in United States history.
“Five years after a man armed with hate and a gun drove into our community and stole the lives of 23 of our friends and neighbors, we still feel the pain of their absence,” said Myndi Luevanos, a volunteer with the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action in El Paso. “Since the shooting, our leaders have refused to meet the moment, failing to enact common-sense gun safety measures that could save lives and address the disproportionate rate of gun violence faced by the Latinx community in Texas. Half a decade later, we cannot let the failures of the past become the norm. Now more than ever, we must honor the victims and their families with action and protect Latinx Texans for generations to come from gun violence.”
“The tragedy that occurred in El Paso five years ago was not an isolated event, but a deadly reflection of the white supremacy and unchecked access to firearms in our country,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action. “When guns are readily available to anyone, no place is safe—not a Walmart, a school, a park, or any other space in our society. The El Paso community deserves leaders who will champion the proven solutions to prevent tragedies like this horrific shooting, including condemning hate whenever they see it, and our movement will relentlessly fight to ensure these solutions become law.”
“Today marks five years since the deadliest attack on the Latinx community in America, all because a white supremacist was able to access a gun,” said Mireya Rodriguez, a volunteer with Students Demand Action in Texas. “Racism emboldens violence and set against Texas’ weak gun laws, you get a recipe for the very tragedy that shattered El Paso. Our leaders have a responsibility to reject racist and anti-immigration rhetoric, yet it’s no secret that some Texas politicians have chosen to embrace, rather than condemn that hatred. We won’t stand for that. We will honor the lives stolen through our advocacy to end gun violence and combat white supremacy in all forms.”
Easy access to guns gives a single, hate-filled individual the means to shatter whole communities but there are still gaps in reporting of hate crimes. A 2023 report by the Texas Tribune found that most Texas agencies neither report nor prosecute hate crimes. A total of 868 Texas law enforcement agencies reported zero hate crimes in 2022, according to an analysis of FBI data found by the paper (82% of all agencies that reported data to the FBI). However, hate crimes reported in Texas rose about 120% in 2018. According to FBI data, from 1991 to 2022, Texas law enforcement agencies reported a total of 9,530 hate crimes, with 587 reported in 2022.
Hate crimes have been escalating in this country, doubling between 2014 and 2022 and increasing by 7% from 2021 to 2022, according to the most recent data collected by the FBI. The tragic events in El Paso serve as a stark example of the deadly consequences stemming from the combination of hate crimes and easy access to firearms.
Each year, nearly 5,000 Latinx people die from gun violence in the United States—an average of 14 deaths every day. In an average year, over 25,000 hate crimes in the United States involve a firearm—69 each day Nearly two-thirds of all gun deaths among Latinx people in the United States are homicides, and Latinx people are more than two times more likely to die by gun homicide.
In an average year, 4,122 people die by guns in Texas. With a rate of 14.0 deaths per 100,000 people, Texas has the 27th-highest rate of gun deaths in the US. The rate of gun deaths has increased 44% from 2013 to 2022 in Texas, compared to a 36% increase nationwide. More information about gun violence in Texas is available here.