NEWTOWN, Conn. — During a weekend riddled with gun violence, mass shootings happened in Monterey Park, California, where 10 people were killed and 10 were wounded, and in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where 12 people were injured. The California shooting, which happened during a Lunar New Year celebration, is the deadliest since the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. A review of the Gun Violence Archive reveals that 2023 has kicked off with a series of mass shootings, following in the dangerous footsteps of 2022, which averaged nearly two mass shootings per day.
In response to the tragic weekend, Nicole Hockley, co-founder and CEO of Sandy Hook Promise and mother of Dylan, who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, issued the following statement:
“Our hearts are heavy for the families and loved ones of the 10 people murdered, and we send healing energy to the nearly two-dozen people injured, in the weekend’s mass shootings. Once again, people just living and enjoying their lives, have been viciously attacked. Once again, lives have been taken and others irrevocably changed by the blight of gun violence. Once again, we mourn as a nation as we struggle with these senseless tragedies.
“Right behind the grief is fear for our own families, our own children, for ourselves, as the U.S. gun violence epidemic continues to take lives. We must not let fear immobilize us.
“While we don’t know the motives behind these two mass shootings, we do know that undisputed research proves that gun violence is preventable when we know the warning signs and take action to get help. Simple policy actions like background checks for all gun sales, secure storage, magazine limits for firearms, and extreme risk protection orders are proven to save lives and are remedies legislators must pass now. We must honor every victim by taking individual and collective action to help end gun violence.”
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Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) envisions a future where all children are free from school shootings and other acts of violence. As a national nonprofit organization, SHP’s mission is to educate and empower youth and adults to prevent violence in schools, homes, and communities. Creators of the life-saving, evidence-informed “Know the Signs” prevention programs, SHP teaches the warning signs of someone who may be in crisis, socially isolated, or at-risk of hurting themselves or others and how to get help. SHP also advances school safety, youth mental health, and responsible gun ownership at the state and federal levels through nonpartisan policy and partnerships. SHP is led by several family members whose loved ones were killed in the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012.
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Aimee Thunberg | [email protected] | 646-761-5579