Newtown Action Alliance Statement on Highland Park Mass Shooting Incident
For Immediate Release
July 5, 2022
Newtown Action Alliance Statement on Highland Park Mass Shooting Incident
Newtown, CT- Newtown Action Alliance issued the following statement from Po Murray, Chairwoman of Newtown Action Alliance, following a bloody 4th of July weekend of gun violence including the mass shooting incident in Highland Parks, Illinois, where six innocent people were killed and at least 24 were wounded.
“Our hearts are with the Highland Park families who were impacted by the mass shooting incident yesterday in Illinois. A 21-year-old gunman with a legally purchased “high-powered AR-15 style rifle” hunted parade goers from a rooftop and terrorized hundreds who were simply there to celebrate America’s birthday.
“During the last 72 hours, 406 Americans were shot and there were a total of seven mass shooting incidents on July 4th. Last night, fireworks watchers in Philadelphia and Orlando ran for their lives due to fear of getting shot. Americans are terrified and horrified.
“Since 20 children and six educators were hunted and killed in less than five minutes by a gunman with an AR15 and high-capacity magazines in Sandy Hook Elementary School nearly a decade ago, we have unapologetically urged Congress to pass a set of strong comprehensive gun control measures to end all forms of gun violence — including the assault weapons ban.
“Congress finally passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act after the Uvalde and Buffalo shootings. We will be at the White House with President Joe Biden and the survivors of gun violence on July 11th to celebrate the passage of the bill; however, we know too well that much more needs to be done. Until Congress bans assault weapons, bump stocks, ghost guns. and high-capacity magazines; strengthens the requirement for gun ownership with universal background checks, licensing, training, registration; promotes responsible gun ownership with safe storage; and holds the gun industry responsible for reckless marketing tactics -- then mass shootings and daily incidents of gun violence will continue to devastate our families and communities in every corner of America.
“It’s clear local and state laws are not enough to protect Americans and assault weapons are the weapons of choice for mass shooters. Representative David Cicilline’s federal bill H.R.1808 to ban assault weapons has 210 cosponsorsand it is ready for a vote in the House. We urge the House Leadership to schedule a vote on the bill when they return from recess next week. Passing this bill in the House will send a strong message to the Senate that it must do more to protect Americans from preventable acts of violence and terror. There are 13 Democratic holdouts for the House bill and 12 in the Senate. Democrats must no longer run away from the assault weapons ban. The majority of Americans support banning weapons of war for civilian use.
“Since Sandy Hook, there have been nearly 4,000 mass shootings and over 350,000 Americans have been killed by guns. There have been 314 mass shootings and over 22,000 Americans killed by guns since January 1st of this year. It’s long past time for Congress to make saving lives an urgent priority.
“We urge the Senate to end the filibuster to pass the following lifesaving bills that were passed out of the House of Representatives:
H.R.8 - Bipartisan Background Checks Act
H.R.1446 - Enhanced Background Checks Act\
H.R.7910 - Protecting Our Kids Act which includes raising the age to purchase assault weapons to age 21, limits on high capacity magazines, federal criminal offense for gun trafficking, and a ban on ghost guns and bump stocks, Ethan's Law to #KeepKidsSafe from unsecured guns
H.R.2377 - Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act
“We also urge the House and the Senate to pass the following bills that will dramatically reduce all forms of gun violence:
S736 / H.R.1808 - Assault Weapons Ban of 2021: One pager is HERE. Full resource guide is HERE.
S.1338 / H.R.2814 - Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act to remove the gun industry's legal shield
S.4263 - Federal Firearm Licensing Act
S.2275 / H.R.4118 - Break the Cycle of Violence Act to more robustly fund community violence intervention programs.”
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Newtown Action Alliance (www.newtownaction.org) is a Newtown-based, national grassroots organization formed after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. Our mission is to achieve the steady and continuous reduction of gun violence through legislative and cultural changes.