Seven Years Later: Gabby Giffords remembers victims of Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting

WASHINGTON — Today, former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, founder of the national gun safety organization GIFFORDS, released the following statement honoring the victims of the mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. Seven years ago today, a gunman opened fire upon thousands attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival, killing 60 people and injuring 800 more as people fled. Using bump stocks, he was able to fire more than 1,100 rounds of ammunition in 11 minutes.

“Seven years ago, the Las Vegas community and thousands of visitors from across the country experienced terror, loss, and had their lives forever changed. Today, I’m thinking of the 60 people who lost their lives, the hundreds more who were injured, and all of the survivors. We won’t stop fighting to honor them with action,” said former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. “While progress has been made and Nevada took action to keep the state safer, earlier this year radicals on the Supreme Court overturned the ban on bump stocks that was instituted after this horrific tragedy, effectively legalizing machine guns. In Congress, there is bipartisan legislation led by Senator Heinrich and Congresswoman Titus that would close this loophole and make these conversion devices illegal. Our elected leaders must act now to pass this crucial legislation.”

Last week, Nevada’s U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen gave a floor speech to highlight the importance of this legislation and urge her colleagues to pass it.

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