Gabrielle Giffords Responds to President Trump’s Weekend Gun Violence Address
August 5, 2019 — Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords released the following statement in response to President Trump’s address on this weekend’s gun violence.
Statement from former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords:
“Words alone without action will not save lives. Today is not the first time this President has stood before the nation in the wake of a mass shooting promising to make the safety of our children and communities a top priority, but so far those promises have all been empty. They’ve been designed to fill a news cycle, not tackle a cycle of violence. This is a President who marches in lockstep with the NRA, not the American people. He refuses to listen to the overwhelming majority of voters—Democrats, Republicans and gun owners alike—who are calling for background checks to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. Make no mistake, if Donald Trump was truly serious about addressing America’s gun violence crisis he would demand that the Senate return from their August Recess today and send the background checks bill passed by the House 159 days ago to his desk immediately.”
Nine people were killed and 26 people were injured after a mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio. The incident took place within 13 hours of the shooting in El Paso, Texas where at least 20 people were killed and 26 more wounded. These mass shootings came days after two people were shot and killed in a Southhaven, Mississippi, Walmart, three people were killed and 12 others wounded by an active shooter at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in northern California, and one man was killed and 11 others injured, when two gunmen opened fire at Brownsville, Brooklyn, block party attended by thousands last Saturday night.