STATEMENT: WAND implores Congress to turn grief over deadly Texas shooting into action
Contact: Corey Greer, Communications Director | cgreer@wand.org | 202-459-4769
May 25, 2022. WASHINGTON - In response to the murder of 21 people at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX, WAND’s Executive Director, Nancy Parrish, released the following statement:
“As a mother of two, I cannot begin to imagine the anguish and heartache that the parents of the 19 children and two adults are experiencing today. No parent should have to have to bury their child. We grieve with these families and know that no words will heal their pain.
“No one should have to pull out of the school drop-off line and wonder whether a shooter will come in with a military-grade weapon and kill an entire classroom in two minutes. No child should have to witness their friends getting shot. No child should have to bear the trauma of gun violence drills where they must decide whether to save themselves or their peers. In no country should gun violence be the leading cause of death for children.
“This massacre comes on the heels of the white-supremacist attack on the Tops grocery store in New York and pre-meditated mass murder at a church in California. Communities in New York and California have barely had a chance to lay their loved ones to rest, and yet the plague of gun violence continues unabated. This will not be the last mass shooting in the United States. Only 145 days into 2022, there have been 213 mass shootings across the country–30 of which occurred at K-12 schools. Gun violence is not an isolated issue, nor is it a partisan one for those who are left to live with its impacts.
“We must turn our grief into action. Common sense gun laws are the first step toward a world where children feel safe at school, and in the decade since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, Congress has failed to take substantive action to end gun violence that threatens every community in the United States. We stand with gun violence prevention organizations in demanding that Congress take action, beginning with the Senate passing the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021 (H.R. 8). This bill was passed by the House last year, and it is past time for the Senate to prioritize the safety of our children over NRA campaign donations.
“WAND was founded with the purpose of building women's political power to advocate for security and peace with justice. These mass shootings perpetrated by heavily armed violent men on children at school, seniors shopping for groceries, and congregants in houses of worship prove that we cannot have security, peace, or justice in this country without common sense gun legislation.”
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