Today we mourn the deaths of 19 children and 2 teachers in Uvalde, Texas. It was the deadliest school shooting in the state’s history, nearly the worst in U.S. history,and it was the second mass shooting in America this week. Our deepest sympathies go out to the families that lost their children yesterday and to the communities reeling from senseless and unfathomable loss.
A horror like yesterday’s massacre brings the reality of gun violence to our hearts and minds in technicolor. But it is not just yesterday or last week. Our hearts break for the 110 people who lost their lives to gun violence each day in 2020- the majority of them Black and Brown young men. We grieve for those families and neighborhoods as well.
In our gun-obsessed culture, we have prioritized the right to have unfettered access to firearms over the lives of our own children. We no longer live in a free country - freedom is the expectation that you can send your kids to school, or the store or down the block and know that they’ll return home safely each day. Today, no parent in America has that certainty.
This is not normal. It does not have to be this way. No other developed country comes close to this level of gun violence. And no other country comes close to allowing guns to be purchased and carried with as few restrictions as this country does.
What will be the result of 19 more innocent children shot dead in their classrooms? The answer will be not nearly enough unless we finally hold our elected leaders accountable and demand change. Each and every one of us has a part to play in ending gun violence and the only way to honor these victims is through actions, not words.
Robb Elementary School could be any school in Vermont. Tops Friendly Markets in Buffalo could be your local grocery store. The time for passive activism is over. All of us are responsible for taking action and demanding change.
What You Can Do:
Contact lawmakers and demand action
Educate yourself on the issues
Raise awareness and engage others to speak out
Contact us and other gun violence prevention organizations for more ways to get involved