DALLAS, TX. — The Texas chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, released the following statements in response to a shooting in southeast Dallas on Sunday where a gunman, who had previously been convicted of aggravated assault, opened fire at a neighbor’s house killing four family members, leaving a 15-year-old and 13-year-old as the sole survivors. Though reports are still emerging, we know that at the house, officers found five people shot. A one-year-old and three adults were shot and killed. A 15-year-old female was shot and wounded.
“Our lawmakers’ continual refusal to keep their constituents safe is costing Texans their lives,” said Chris Cortopassi, a volunteer with the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action. “It should be commonplace to feel safe and protected with your family at home on a Sunday night, but instead in our state with our lax gun laws, shots can ring out any time leaving behind irreconcilable trauma. We don’t deserve to live like this and we certainly don’t deserve to die like this.”
This past legislative session, Texas lawmakers ignored pleas from constituents to protect their community and instead passed a bill to arm more teachers, only further bolstering their deadly “guns everywhere agenda’.”
Texas has the 26th highest rate of gun deaths in the United States and some of the weakest gun laws in the country. Instead of further weakening the state’s gun laws, lawmakers should pass policies that will protect communities such as raising the age to purchase firearms and enact an Extreme Risk law to empower loved ones or law enforcement to intervene to temporarily prevent someone in crisis from accessing firearms.
In an average year, 3,996 people die by guns in Texas, and 5,556 more are wounded. Guns are the leading cause of death among children and teens in Texas. More information on gun violence in Texas is available here.
If you are interested in speaking with a Texas Moms Demand Action or Students Demand Action volunteer, or a policy expert, please reach out to [email protected].