9-4-2024 / For Immediate Release
For more information contact:
Judy Sherry, Founder & President
816-797-8676 / [email protected]
APALACHEE MASS SHOOTING: YET ANOTHER SCHOOL TRAGEDY
The shooting Wednesday morning at Apalachee High School in Winder, GA, that so far has
claimed the lives of two students and two teachers and seriously injured at least nine others is
yet another tragic example of failed efforts to control gun violence, according to Judy Sherry,
founder and president of the local nonprofit Grandparents for Gun Safety.
“For most students, the school year has just started and already these children and their
families have had to face the trauma of a mass shooting,” Ms. Sherry said. “Surely we are better
than this.”
Even before Wednesday’s losses, 127 people had died in 29 mass shootings recorded in the
U.S. so far this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press, USA Today
and Northeastern University.
Georgia, like both Kansas and Missouri, received an F from the nonprofit Giffords Law Center in
its annual scorecard of states’ gun laws. The scorecard ranked the strength of Georgia’s gun
laws 33 rd of the 50 states; Kansas ranked 42nd and Missouri 48th.
“We talk and we talk and we talk some more, but these tragedies keep happening,” Ms. Sherry
said. “It’s way past time to stop talking and start doing. We must address this with common-
sense gun reform.”
Next month, Grandparents will host its 11 th annual Community Forum on gun violence
prevention. Its theme: “Making Change Happen.” Featured speaker will be national gun
reform activist Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter Jaime was among the 17 people
killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL.
Grandparents continues to work for common ground gun reform and safe storage requirements
at the local, state and national levels. Its signature program is Lock It For Love, which has
distributed more than 7,200 free, high-quality gun locks at 261 community events in the metro
area.