Alabama Republicans Ignore #1 Killer of Alabama Children

Washington DC  — Today, GIFFORDS, the gun violence prevention organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, released a statement condemning Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, Senator Tommy Tuberville, Senator Katie Boyd Britt, and Congressman Mike Rogers for ignoring gun violence, which AL.com today reported is the number one killer of minors in Alabama. Furthermore, the Associated Press today noted that in 2020, “Alabama had the fifth highest rate of gun deaths in the country.”

Following the weekend’s mass shooting at a teen birthday party in Dadeville, which killed four and injured 32, all four officials chose not to send a press release or full statement. On Twitter, all refused to acknowledge the gun violence on social media, only vaguely alluding to “news” or “crime.”

Chris Harris, GIFFORDS Vice President of Communications:
“How the hell can Alabamans count on their leaders to fix a problem if they refuse to see it? Gun violence kills twice as many Alabama children as cancer and the state’s leaders are MIA. While they may not want to talk about it, the issue is not going away. More kids will die until Alabama leaders decide enough is enough.

“Gun violence is not a partisan issue. Republicans, Democrats, and Independents want to send their children to school, to church, or to a party without fear that they will never make it home. There are commonsense solutions out there that respect the Second Amendment by ensuring bad actors don’t exploit it to harm others. Being tough on crime means stopping gun violence before it happens. Voters want Alabama leaders to do something—and that starts with acknowledging the problem.”

Alabama earned an F on this year’s GIFFORDS Scorecard:
The state lacks many basic gun safety laws and has not enacted meaningful gun safety legislation recently. Instead, in recent years, the state has made it easier for people to carry hidden, loaded guns in public and more difficult for local governments to enact gun violence prevention policies suited to their communities. In 2021, Alabama had the fourth highest gun death rate among the states. Alabama also supplied crime guns to other states at the 11th highest rate among the states. Alabama exported crime guns at nearly twice the national rate and 2.5 times the rate at which it imported guns from other states. Read more about Alabama’s gun laws.

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