STATEMENT: Gabrielle Giffords Reacts to Shooting at Texas’ Santa Fe High School
RELATED RESOURCE: What We Know So Far About the Shooting at Santa Fe High School
May 18, 2018 — Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, the co-founder of the gun violence prevention organization Giffords, issued the following statement reacting to today’s shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas.
STATEMENT FROM CONGRESSWOMAN GABRIELLE GIFFORDS:
“Once again today, students stood before national cameras and detailed the terror that unfolded in their school. We heard children report that they called their parents to say ‘it’s for real this time’ and that they ‘always knew this would eventually happen, it was just a matter of when.’
“I will not stand for this and neither should you. Kids should not be terrified to learn in our schools. Parents should not have to hug their children in the morning and worry about whether they’ll see them at the end of the day. We don’t have to live in a country where the politicians let this happen again and again and again.
“These students in Texas now have to reckon with the unspeakable trauma of a shooting at their school — the experience of calling their parents in a panic, hearing the shots ring out from a classroom, scrambling and running for their lives. Soon they will attend funerals for their classmates and friends.
“It’s time for America to find the courage to take on the powerful and fight for our own safety. We can’t wall ourselves off from the threat of gun violence — it doesn’t work. Nor can we simply arm ourselves against one another — that makes it more dangerous still.
“We need the courage to take on the special interests who say that nothing can be done, that these acts of evil are beyond our ability to control. They are not. The gun lobby and the politicians who receive the NRA’s checks must understand we will not tolerate another vote against our safety.
“Congress must find the courage to pass the effective laws that can protect our children and stop dangerous people from accessing guns. And if this Congress won’t protect our kids and communities from gun violence, this November we will vote in a Congress that will.”
Background information about gun laws in Texas and background information about school shootings is available here.
Giffords Law Center recently released a report on the impact of gun violence against children. Among its key findings are that:
- Since Columbine alone, more than 150,000 students in at least 170 elementary, middle, and high schools have experienced school shootings.
- 91% of children in high-income countries who are killed with firearms live in the United States.
- Nearly 60% of all high school students report fears of a shooting at their school or in their community.
- Nearly 40% of children exposed to a shooting will develop PTSD.
The following gun law and law enforcement experts are available for interviews. To arrange an interview, email media@giffords.org:
- Captain Mark Kelly, Co-Founder, Giffords
- Peter Ambler, Executive Director, Giffords
- Robyn Thomas, Executive Director, Giffords Law Center (Recently featured on 60 Minutes)
- David Chipman, Former ATF Agent, Senior Policy Advisor, Giffords
- Laura Cutilletta, Legal Director, Giffords Law Center
- Adam Skaggs, Chief Counsel, Giffords Law Center
- Allison Anderman, Managing Attorney, Giffords Law Center
- Ari Freilich, Staff Attorney, Giffords Law Center
- Robin Lloyd, Director of Government Affairs, Giffords
- Lindsay Nichols, Federal Policy Director, Giffords Law Center
- Hannah Shearer, Staff Attorney, Giffords Law Center
- Mike McLively, Staff Attorney, Giffords Law Center
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