Failure To Enact Common-Sense Gun Safety is Nation's Badge of Shame
NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE: FAILURE TO ENACT COMMON-SENSE GUN SAFETY REFORM IS THE NATION’S BADGE OF SHAME
NEW YORK (April 16, 2021) -- National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial issued the following statement in response to the mass shooting in Indianapolis:
“The news of yet another mass shooting, which claimed eight innocent lives in Indianapolis, is more than horrific. It is appalling, it is revolting, it is enraging. The questions surrounding the shooting are by now all too familiar. What motivated the gunman? Where did he get the weapon? But the overriding question – Why does this keep happening? -- has already been answered: because the lawmakers charged with keeping America safe refuse to act.
“We do not yet know the names of those who were killed. The image of desperate family members waiting in a hotel lobby for word about their loved ones is heartbreaking, and all too familiar. Like a recurring nightmare, no matter how many times it keeps happening, it never loses its power to terrify and exhaust us. We pray for these families and all those who have been scarred by gun violence.
“Less than four months into the year, gun violence already has claimed the lives of more than 12,400 Americans – more than five times the number who died in combat in two decades in our longest war. It is the leading cause of death for American children and teens, with Black children dying of gun homicide at 14 times the rate of white children.
“We don’t yet know if the gunman in Indianapolis passed a background check. But we know that the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021, passed by the House last month, will save lives. We don’t yet know if he took advantage of the “Charleston loophole,” which allows the sale of a gun if a background check hasn’t been completed in three days. But we know that closing that loohople will save lives. We don’t yet know if his behavior prior to the shooting would have triggered a red flag law. But we know red flag laws save lives.
“The failure of Congress to enact common-sense gun safety reform is a badge of shame that the nation has worn for far too long.”