Terrifying Scene in Boise Mall Leaves Two Dead and Four Injured in Tragic Reminder of America’s Ongoing Gun Violence Crisis 

Washington, DC – Gunshots rang out at a mall in Boise, Idaho, earlier today, sending shoppers running, and leaving two dead and four injured, including a police officer. The tragedy, which unfolded in a state with some of the weakest gun laws in the nation, was a heartbreaking reminder that the gun violence crisis is raging in all parts of the country. 

Statement from Giffords Senior Advisor David Chipman: 

“The video of shoppers running to take cover is terrifying, and the outcome is heart-wrenching. Two people needlessly dead and four more injured, including a law enforcement officer responding to the active shooter. We cannot accept this terror as a normal part of daily life. 

There is simply no good reason for us not to take action on gun violence in America. But time and time again, lawmakers throw their hands up and allow the next inevitable tragedy to happen. We lost 45,000 Americans to gun violence last year, yet Congress refuses to enact even the most basic gun safety laws. So many lawmakers who claim to support law enforcement continue to ask them to risk their lives because of the absurd lack of commonsense gun laws in this country. 

As we think of the victims and their families in Boise, let us honor them with action. We need to find the courage to act before the next preventable tragedy strikes.” 

Idaho has some of the weakest gun laws in the country and received an “F” on gun safety from the Giffords Law Center. In 2019, Idaho had the 19th-highest gun death rate in the country and supplied crime guns to other states at the 15th-highest rate. 

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