Newtown Action Alliance Statement on the Deadly Louisville Shootings
For Immediate Release
April 10, 2023
Contact:
John Kelley
917-679-6475
jkelley@newtownaction.org
Newtown Action Alliance Statement on the Deadly Louisville Shootings
Newtown, CT - Po Murray, Chairwoman of Newtown Action Alliance, released the following statement after the Louisville shooting incidents:
“Two weeks ago, three children and three educators were killed by a shooter with an assault weapon in Nashville, Tennessee. Today, four people were killed and nine others - including three police officers - were wounded by a 23-year-old employee of One National Bank with an assault weapon in Louisville, Kentucky. After the mass shooting incident, another Louisville man was fatally shot, and a woman was wounded, outside a community college in a separate shooting.
“Our hearts are with the Louisville families, the community members, the first responders, and state and federal agents who have been impacted by the 146th mass shooting incident this year in America and an act of everyday gun violence.
“Thought and prayers are not enough. Therefore, we call on:
1) Governor Andy Beshear and the Kentucky Legislature to strengthen their gun laws to keep their constituents safe in their state. According to Giffords, Kentucky is rated 13th for gun deaths and 43rd for gun law strength.
2) Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senator Chuck Schumer to immediately hold a vote to pass the assault weapons ban legislation to stop arming mass shooters with weapons of war, as well as other lifesaving gun bills to end all forms of gun violence and deliver the bills to President Biden’s desk. 67% of all Americans support gun control measures.
3) Senator Mitch McConnell, Senator Rand Paul, and Representative Thomas Massie to honor their constituents who were impacted by today’s shooting by supporting and passing a set of strong federal gun control legislation.
4) All elected officials to stop glorifying guns - particularly weapons of war.
“AR-15s are the weapons of choice for school shooters, other mass shooters, Mexican drug cartels, and white extremists. Since 20 children and six educators were killed in Sandy Hook Elementary School, we have worked unapologetically for over a decade to pass the assault weapons ban legislation. After 30 years of inaction, the 117th House of Representatives finally passed the ban last year but the 117th Senate failed to act, and now more Americans have been killed and wounded.
“After the Uvalde, Highland Park, and Buffalo mass shooting incidents last year, 15 Senate Republicans and 14 House Republicans joined Democrats to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. It was the first substantive gun control bill passed in three decades, but the bill did not ban assault weapons.
“For a decade after the Sandy Hook shooting, the gun lobby lied to Americans. Gun owners were told that President Barack Obama, Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and President Joe Biden were coming for their guns but that never happened. In fact, the gun industry manufactured nearly 100 million more guns, or double the number of guns from the previous decade. Our nation is now saturated with 400 million civilian-owned guns, 20 million of which are AR-15s. After Sandy Hook, more than 13.7 million AR-15s - representing one third of all AR-15s in circulation - were manufactured, and the sale of these weapons of war resulted in $11 billion in revenue for the gun industry. It’s time for Congress to pass the assault weapons ban bill to stop the production of more AR-15s.
“As of today, all Republicans in Congress (222 House Republicans and 49 Senate Republicans), 10 House Democrats, seven Democratic and two Independent senators have not yet made a commitment to support the assault weapons ban legislation by cosponsoring the bill.”
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Newtown Action Alliance (http://alliance.newtownaction.org/) is a Newtown-based, national grassroots organization formed after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. Our mission is to achieve the steady and continuous reduction of gun violence through legislative and cultural changes.