Newtown Action Alliance Statement on the Deadly Shootings in Monterey Park and Baton Rouge
For Immediate Release
January 22, 2023
Contact:
John Kelley
917-679-6475
jkelley@newtownaction.org
Newtown Action Alliance Statement on the Deadly Shootings in Monterey Park and Baton Rouge
Newtown, CT - Po Murray, Chairwoman of Newtown Action Alliance, released the following statement in response to the latest mass shooting incidents in America on Saturday and Sunday, January 21 - 22, 2023. In Monterey Park, California, a gunman killed ten people and wounded another 10 people at a dance club in a predominantly Asian American community on the Lunar New Year celebration weekend. In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 12 people were shot and wounded in a nightclub.
“We are devastated by the heartbreaking mass shooting atrocities that occurred over the weekend. Our hearts are with the Monterey Park and the Baton Rouge communities. The Monterey Park shooting in a predominantly Asian American community was the 33rd mass shooting incident and the Baton Rouge nightclub shooting was the 34th mass shooting incident in America.
Once again, we send this stark warning to all Americans. If a mass shooting can happen in Sandy Hook, Monterey Park, Baton Rouge, and other communities then it can happen to anyone, anytime, and anywhere in America.
Congress failed to honor with action for nearly a decade after Newtown endured a day of terror when a gunman with an AR-15 and high capacity magazines killed 20 children and six educators in Sandy Hook Elementary School in less than five minutes.
Finally, after the heartbreaking Buffalo, Uvalde, and HIghland Park mass shootings, 15 Senate Republicans and 14 House Republicans joined the Democrats to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. It was a step in the right direction but it is not enough to stop these horrific mass shootings or dramatically end this public health crisis.
The 72-year-old Monterey Park gunman used an assault pistol with high capacity magazines to murder innocent people who were simply celebrating the Lunar New Year. The Campaign Against Assault Weapons coalition secured the votes needed to pass Representative David Cicilline’s bill to ban assault weapons during the 117th Congress but the Senate failed to give us a vote on the bill.
Today, Senator Diane Feinstein will be reintroducing her bill to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines. We call on Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin to lead the effort to pass the bill in the committee and we implore Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to give us a full floor vote on Senator Feinstein’s bill. We have the right to live without getting shot by gunmen with weapons of war in any public spaces. We recognize that we don’t have the filibuster-proof votes to pass the ban however we deserve to know which Senators continue to support arming mass shooters with weapons of war.
Congress must also pass a set of comprehensive federal policies — including universal background checks, permit-to-purchase, child access prevention, safe storage, ghost gun/3D gun bans, PLCAA repeal, adequate funding for community violence intervention/ATF/gun violence research, and other policies —- that would raise the standards for gun ownership and adequately regulate the gun industry to prevent these mass shooting incidents and all forms of gun violence in our nation.
Asian Americans are rightfully afraid however it’s important to remember that 400 million civilian-owned guns in America have not made us safer. Historically, Asian Americans have enjoyed low levels of gun violence due to low levels of gun ownership. More guns in our communities will not make Asian Americans safer. Studies show having guns in our homes double our risk of homicides and triple our risk of suicides.
On September 16, 2021, a coalition of gun violence prevention groups issued a press release on a Violence Policy Center study showing that the gun industry and the gun lobby were exploiting the increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic to target the Asian American community as first-time gun owners and future pro-gun advocates.
To counter the gun industry and the gun lobby's efforts to sell more guns to Asian Americans, Newtown Action Alliance worked with MomsRising to educate the AAPI communities. Our fact sheets in English, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese are available on our Newtown Action Alliance Foundation website: https://www.newtownactionalliancefoundation.org/guns-dont-make-asian-americans-safer.”
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Newtown Action Alliance (http://alliance.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.