The Progressive

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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Sally Martinelli, 202-822-8200 x104, smartinelli@vpc.org

Violence Policy Center Statement on Mass Shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas

WASHINGTON

Following the mass shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas which according to news reports resulted in at least eight deaths and an unknown number of injuries, Violence Policy Center Executive Director Josh Sugarmann issued the following statement:

"Once again the nation mourns innocent children shot dead at school, a place where they should feel and be safe. This time it is students at Sante Fe High School in Texas. In communities across America, children live in terror of gun violence whether it be the daily horror of urban gun violence or the sporadic terror of school shootings. This is the inevitable result of a gun industry that is free of even the most basic health and safety regulation and therefore focuses on producing increasingly lethal firearms and accessories such as bump stocks and ammunition magazines holding up to 100 rounds. This is a national shame. We must act now to address this expanding public health crisis. Far too many have already paid the ultimate price for our inaction."

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."