In response to a school shooting today in Roswell, New Mexico, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense for America released the following statement from its founder Shannon Watts:
“We are shaken and saddened by the news out of Roswell, N.M., today – the 30th school shooting since the tragedy in Newtown. Schools should be safe havens for our children – yet once again, we are reminded of the failure of our leaders to act to prevent gun violence. For the families in Roswell, for our families and families everywhere, we refuse to be silent about the epidemic of gun violence in America. We demand better from our country; we demand a safer future for our children.”
According to the Center for American Progress, New Mexico’s gun death rate is 40 percent higher than the national average, making it the 10th worst state for gun deaths. In New Mexico, children ages 0–19 are killed by guns at a rate almost 60 percent higher than the national average and are murdered by guns at almost 40 percent above the national average.
To mark the first anniversary of the Newtown shooting just one month ago today, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense In America and Mayors Against Illegal Guns released an ad to call for “No More Silence” on the gun violence that affects all of our communities. The ad depicts a shooter entering a school and can be viewed here: