Last night, another community is in mourning after a shooter opened fire in a Walmart, killing 7 people and injuring another 4. The shooting, which took place in Chesapeake, VA, comes just three days after the Club Q mass shooting in Colorado Springs, CO, and ten days after the University of Virginia shooting. That is 15 people killed in ten days, and another 31 injured.
As the nation comes together with family and community this weekend, we commend the violence interrupters, first responders, and individuals who risk their lives to stop gun violence. Mass shootings across the United States continue at a horrifying rate—over 600 this year alone according to estimates—and yet Members of Congress continue to stoke hate and fail to pass common-sense gun safety legislation. This blood is on their hands.
We call on the U.S. Congress to take immediate action to address these shootings. The senate should pass the Break the Cycle of Violence Act, a bill that passed the House and would provide federal funding for effective community gun violence prevention programs. The Senate should also pass the Assault Weapons Ban, which passed the House earlier this year.
Gun violence in the U.S. is a human rights crisis—we all have the right to go to work, go shopping, seek higher education at university, attend services in a synagogue, mosque or church, and dance with our friends at a club—without the fear of losing our lives.
Discrimination and violence against LGBT people is also a human rights crisis. The U.S. government at all levels—federal, state and local—must do far more to put a stop to it. All U.S. government officials should support the human rights of LGBT people and speak out against their colleagues who spew hateful rhetoric.
Congress has a duty to the American people to act for human rights and ensure that guns don’t end up in the hands of those likely to misuse them. We stand with victims’ families and survivors, and join our partners in the gun violence prevention community in demanding action.
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