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For Immediate Release
Contact: Sally Martinelli,(202) 822-8200 x104,smartinelli@vpc.org

Violence Policy Center Statement on Shooting at Sikh Temple Leaving Six Dead, Others Critically Wounded

Following the second gun massacre in a little over two weeks, this time at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin leaving six victims dead and others critically wounded, the Violence Policy Center, a national non-profit educational organization working to stop gun death and injury, issued the following statement:

WASHINGTON

Following the second gun massacre in a little over two weeks, this time at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin leaving six victims dead and others critically wounded, the Violence Policy Center, a national non-profit educational organization working to stop gun death and injury, issued the following statement:

"For the second time in little over two weeks, people peaceably gathered together have become the victims of America's gun industry. This horrifying shooting at a place of worship is a tragic demonstration of the firepower that is available to virtually anyone, including even the most hate-filled white supremacist. America's arms bazaar enables those motivated by hate to inflict unspeakable violence on the innocent. Easily accessed, increasingly lethal firearms are the tools that turn a shooter's hate, anger, or resentment into a bloody toll of innocent victims. And even as those affected begin the process of recovery from this most recent mass shooting, the firearms industry and its apologists will, as always, use the very event that they helped precipitate as a rationalization for even more weapons to be poured into our already gun-drenched society."

The Violence Policy Center (VPC) works to stop gun death and injury through research, education, advocacy, and collaboration. Founded in 1988 by Executive Director Josh Sugarmann, a native of Newtown, Connecticut, the VPC informs the public about the impact of gun violence on their daily lives, exposes the profit-driven marketing and lobbying activities of the firearms industry and gun lobby, offers unique technical expertise to policymakers, organizations, and advocates on the federal, state, and local levels, and works for policy changes that save lives. The VPC has a long and proven record of policy successes on the federal, state, and local levels, leading the National Rifle Association to acknowledge us as "the most effective ... anti-gun rabble-rouser in Washington."