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Statement from John Feinblatt, President of Everytown for Gun Safety on Baton Rouge Law Enforcement Shooting

July 17, 2016

Everytown and Major Cities Chiefs Research Found that 52 Percent of Law Enforcement Homicides Are Committed by People Likely Prohibited from Having Guns

Everytown Research (And Visuals) on Gun Violence by the Numbers Available Here

NEW YORK – Everytown for Gun Safety president John Feinblatt released the following statement after reports that at least three law enforcement officers were shot and killed, while several others others were shot and injured, this morning in Baton Rouge.

The shooting in Baton Rouge comes just over a week after one of the deadliest mass shootings of law enforcement officers in U.S. history in Dallas, Texas.

STATEMENT FROM JOHN FEINBLATT, PRESIDENT OF EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY:

“Barely a week after one of the worst shootings of law enforcement officers in U.S. history, officers once again have been gunned down in the line of duty, this time on the streets of Baton Rouge. We grieve with their families and all the people of Baton Rouge. While details about this shooting are still unfolding, we know there has been far too much blood shed in cities across our country. Every single day, men and women are being killed by guns — including those who serve to protect us and those who are simply on our city streets. The most effective way to put an end to the 91 lives that are taken each day by gun violence, along with the hundreds of others who are injured, is to enact stronger, common-sense laws on the state and federal level.”

Last year, Everytown for Gun Safety and the Major Cities Chiefs Association released a report (available here) revealing that 52 percent of incidents in which police officers were shot and killed in the line of duty in 2013 were committed by people likely prohibited from buying or possessing guns. And in states that require background checks for unlicensed sales of handguns, police are 48 percent less likely to be killed with handguns. The analysis was based on the most recently available data from the FBI’s Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) database and supplemented with media reports.

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