WASHINGTON, D.C., May 25, 2022 – On Tuesday, a gunman entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, opening fire and killing 19 children and two adults. It was the second deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.
Alliance for Justice President Rakim H.D. Brooks issued the following statement:
“How many children have to die before we act? Those are the words on so many lips in the wake of this act of violent terrorism that forever changed the lives of so many families in Uvalde, Texas. We extend our hearts and our hands to provide whatever comfort and support we can in the face of such senseless devastation, as we continue to do for those who lost loved ones in other shootings just last week.
“But that can’t be enough. We must believe in a day where we can dedicate our thoughts and prayers not to grief but to hope. We must envision a world where we can walk freely through our schools, our offices, our grocery stores, and our places of worship without fear of gun violence. We must cast off the illusion that we are handcuffed by the ghosts of our forefathers, who could not even fathom the destruction possible by the weapons of today. Like Justice Stevens wrote in his dissent in Heller, I could not possibly conclude that the Framers intended for us to have no way of regulating civilian use of weaponry.
“Yet there are many who would keep us on this track — who believe that deadly shootings are an essential American reality that must continue. Just this month, two Trump judges on the Ninth Circuit overturned a California law preventing the sale of semiautomatic rifles to people under the age of 21. Such a law falls short of the gun reforms we need, but nevertheless might have prevented this week’s tragedy had it been in effect across the nation.
“Congress can and must pass serious gun reform legislation to change the reality of gun violence in this country. We know it’s possible. Our peer nations around the world have implemented massive gun safety reforms that have significantly curbed, if not outright ended, gun violence. All we require is the courage and basic decency to follow suit. Our nation should not be held hostage by the extremist views of a small number of Americans. Every delay only invites additional loss.”