Gabrielle Giffords Statement on Deadly Weekend of Gun Violence

August 4, 2019 — Nine people are dead and 26 people were injured after a mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio early this morning. 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.

Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords issued the following statement:

“I have no more words. I only have anger. President Donald Trump and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell must call the Senate back from August recess immediately. We cannot afford to wait another day for lawmakers to address this horrific national public safety threat.

“In less than one minute, one man with a gun murdered 9 people and injured 26 others. This is not normal. The shootings that happened this weekend—the shootings that happen every single day in America—are not normal. No other country in the world comes close to experiencing the level of gun violence our families and communities suffer.

“The defenders of the status quo—advocates of the firearms industry and the politicians paid to defend it—will tell you that horrific acts of violence like this are beyond our control. This could not be further from the truth. Every day we fail to take action, we choose this fate. Every day politicians fail to acknowledge and act upon this crisis, they allow the gun violence epidemic to continue.

“It’s been 158 days since the US House of Representatives passed the Bipartisan Background Checks Act. How many more lives will be lost before Majority Leader McConnell and President Trump take the next steps to sign that lifesaving legislation into law?”

This weekend’s mass shooting comes 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.