Dear John,
Our deepest sympathies are with the survivors, families, and heartbroken communities of El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.
This weekend has been one of incredible tragedy -- not just in the two high profile mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton -- but also in Virginia, where two toddlers were among the victims in a bloody weekend, and in hundreds of other communities across the country that have not made the national news.
At the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV), we know that this is not normal. No other nation lives with the daily horror and trauma of gun violence as American citizens do. The fact that our elected officials do not address gun violence as a public health crisis is a national disgrace. We must not become numb to these atrocities. We must summon the political courage to address them.
Please find CSGV's statements from this weekend below. We hope that you will continue to fight with us as we work everyday to make gun violence rare and abnormal.
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We Must Disarm Hate: [link removed]
The tragic shooting at a Wal-Mart in El Paso, Texas exemplifies the dangers of the president's xenophobic rhetoric combined with our nation's easy access to weapons of war.
Washington, DC (August 3, 2019) -- Our deepest sympathies are with the survivors, families, and community of El Paso tonight. We are still awaiting all of the details from this horrific shooting, but the reports we've seen so far are absolutely devastating. We also recognize that while El Paso is being covered in newspapers and on television screens across the nation, there were nearly 100 other Americans killed by guns today -- victims of gun violence in neighborhoods, domestic violence homicides, suicides, and unintentional gun deaths that will not get any press coverage or recognition. We mourn for those victims as well.
The El Paso massacre is the second high profile mass shooting in a week in which the shooter reportedly espoused hateful, racist views. This is a story that has become all too familiar. There is an armed and unregulated militia in this nation that is motivated by fear, bigotry, and racism -- and they are being encouraged by Donald Trump's rhetoric. They are feeding off of the hatred generated by our current political environment. They are armed with weapons that are intended to kill as many people as possible in a matter of minutes.
This is armed hate. It is dangerous. It is evil. We must work at the state and federal level to pass legislation that will identify and disarm dangerous, hateful individuals. We've repeatedly called on Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to pass legislation to address gun violence. This includes universal background checks, the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, and legislation that will fund research to address our gun violence epidemic. All of these bills have been sent over by the House of Representatives. The Majority Leader's inaction is disgraceful, and he should be held responsible for this continued violence and death.
But our work does not end there. We must also address the easy availability of assault weapons. Speaker Pelosi and Democrats in the House must continue to take action. We need to reinstate the assault weapons ban immediately. It has been 15 years since this ban expired, and we have only seen the lethality of these tragedies increase. Leadership on this issue will only begin in the House.
The status quo is not working. It is unacceptable that hateful, racist individuals -- emboldened by a hateful, racist president -- can purchase weapons of war and destroy lives. We cannot allow this to continue. It is time for action -- the American people are begging for it.
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Another Tragedy: [link removed]
Already reeling from the horrific violence in El Paso, the nation wakes up to another mass shooting.
Washington, DC (August 4, 2019) -- Another tragedy. This time in Dayton, Ohio. A white man wearing body armor armed with a semi-automatic assault rifle was able to murder nine people and injure 26 others in less than a minute.
This is not normal. No other nation lives with the daily horror and trauma of gun violence as American citizens do. The fact that our elected officials do not address gun violence as a public health crisis is a national disgrace. We must not become numb to these atrocities. We must summon the political courage to address them.
That starts with the Senate. As we said yesterday, historic gun violence prevention legislation has been passed with bipartisan support by the House of Representatives -- the first such legislation in two decades. Majority Leader McConnell has refused to bring this and other life-saving legislation up for a vote in the Senate. That is unacceptable, and every single senator -- especially those running for re-election -- must answer for it.
Additionally, we must acknowledge that AR-15s and other semi-automatic assault weapons have become the official weapons of mass tragedy. They are chosen by shooters because they kill as many people as possible in a matter of minutes. The shooter in Dayton killed nine people and injured 26 others in less than a minute before being killed by police. This is not what James Madison intended when he wrote the Second Amendment. Speaker Pelosi and Democrats must lead. It is time for the House of Representatives to bring up an assault weapons and high capacity magazine ban for a vote on the House floor. These weapons have no place at our food festivals, our shopping centers, our night clubs. Enough is enough.
In response to the El Paso shooting, we have already seen the Governor of Texas pivot to blame mental illness -- the standard gun lobby talking point. That is a distraction. We know the evidence shows that those with mental illness are not at a higher risk of interpersonal violence than the general public. Any attempt to blame an entire population because our nation has a problem with guns is disingenuous, discriminatory, and unhelpful. Rather, we should focus on evidence-based policies that have been shown to save lives. Therefore, we hope that Governor Mike Dewine of Ohio will avoid this shameful tactic and make passing an Extreme Risk Protection Order law -- legislation that is based on behavioral indicators of dangerousness and not mental illness -- his first priority in response to this tragedy.
Thank you,
Josh Horwitz
Executive Director
The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
[link removed]
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