CHICAGO – The Illinois chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown for Gun Safety, today responded after a Chicago mass shooting Friday night left four people dead. Authorities have said four people, among them a pregnant woman, were fatally shot while inside a vehicle in the Brighton Park neighborhood, according to the Chicago Tribune.
As documented in a report last June by Everytown and the National Urban League, weak gun laws in nearby states are one of the factors contributing to Chicago’s gun violence. Three in five guns recovered at Chicago crime scenes were first sold in other states, according to a 2014 trace analysis by the city and the University of Chicago Crime Lab. The top out-of-state suppliers according to the analysis were Indiana, Mississippi and Wisconsin – none of which require a background check for every gun sale.
More than 90 Americans are killed with guns every day on average, and hundreds more are injured. More information about gun violence in the U.S. is available here. An Everytown analysis of mass shootings in the U.S., released earlier this year, is available here.
STATEMENT FROM BRENNA O’BRIEN, VOLUNTEER WITH THE ILLINOIS CHAPTER OF MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN AMERICA:
“Our thoughts are with each of the families grieving after this horrific shooting. This is a terrifying and tragic reminder of just how urgently all of us must work together to reduce gun violence in our city and our country.”