The California chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety, released the following statements after five people were shot, four fatally, at a home in Wasco, California on Sunday. According to police at the scene, the shooting was a domestic violence dispute where the shooter shot and killed two sons and their mother as well as a deputy sheriff who later died at the hospital. Details of the shooting are still unfolding.
“Today’s tragic shooting is just one further indication that we need our lawmakers to take action and do it now,” said Michelle Garner, a gun violence survivor and volunteer leader with California Moms Demand Action. “Too many lives are lost by gun violence every year in our communities and amongst law enforcement. As a survivor of gun violence who grew up in a neighboring community, my heart is with the family and friends of the victims and survivors of the shooting. We know that the time for thoughts and prayers are over — right now we need action.”
This shooting comes after a swath of mass shootings in California this year including shootings in Orange where four people were shot fatally at an office building, and San Jose where nine people were shot downtown near a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) maintenance yard.
Research by Everytown for Gun Safety shows that this is at least the 258th mass shooting since January 2009 in which four or more people were killed, not including the shooter. Every day in the U.S. on average, more than 100 people are killed with guns, and more than 230 are wounded —most in shootings that are not mass shootings.
Even though California has some of the strongest gun laws in the country, without federal action, guns will continue to flow into California from states with weaker gun laws. In an average year, nearly 3,100 people die by gun violence in California and over 6,800 more are wounded. More information about gun violence in California is available here.