For Immediate Release / April 17, 2023
For more information contact:
Judy Sherry, Founder & President / 816-797-8676 / [email protected]
A WEEKEND OF SHOOTINGS
A weekend of shootings, one at a 16th birthday party in Alabama and one in a park in Louisville, has claimed the lives of at least six people combined and left many more injured, several critically.
“Horrific and unacceptable and all the other words that describe this almost daily barrage of mass shootings are beginning to ring as hollow as ‘thoughts and prayers’ that we say to victims’ families,” said Judy Sherry, founder and president of the local nonprofit Grandparents for Gun Safety. “We’ll need a new kind of vocabulary if this carnage doesn’t stop.”
The frequency of mass shootings is numbing, she said. Already there have been more of them than actual days so far this year. Research studies have shown the easy accessibility of firearms combined with states’ lax gun laws contribute to the alarming frequency.
For example, Dadeville, Alabama, was the site of Saturday night’s birthday party mass shooting that claimed four lives and injured “multitudes,” local police said. Alabama ranks 38th among the 50 states in strength of its gun laws, according to the nonprofit Giffords Center. Louisville, the site of the shooting Saturday that claimed two lives as well as the bank shooting last week that claimed six victims, is the largest city in Kentucky. That state ranks 43rd.
On that same list of states with the weakest gun laws, Kansas ranks 45th and Missouri 47th.
“It’s shameful our two states rank among the lowest in the nation based on the strength of their gun laws,” Ms. Sherry said. She also noted the current legislative sessions in both Kansas and Missouri took action to weaken gun laws even further and make access to firearms easier than ever. “We need to remind our elected officials that we are voters committed to electing senators and representatives who will reflect the will of the people and pass common ground laws to protect us.”
Since its founding 10 years ago, Grandparents for Gun Safety has worked for common ground gun reform and safe storage requirements at the local, state and national levels. Lock It For Love, its signature safety program, has distributed nearly 5,300 free, high-quality gun locks at some 200 community events in the metro area.