Monday, May 21, 2018

It CAN happen here

RI reacts to yet another senseless school shooting
  
“As parents across the country are preparing for and attending high school and college graduations, we can’t help but try to fathom how the parents of these children massacred must be feeling,” said RICAGV President, Linda Finn

“How much pain and loss must we go through before our elected officials make and implement hard decisions to protect our children?”

In a statement on the latest school shooting tragedy at the Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence (RICAGV) writes:
“Today more than ever, we recognize that Rhode Island is at high risk of seeing the kind of horrendous act we saw unfold at Santa Fe High School in Texas today happen here. Our children are vulnerable because Rhode Island is an outlier: We are one of only four states that allow anyone with a concealed carry permit to bring a lethal firearm in to a K-12 school without notifying administration. We are also vulnerable because weapons of war, like the ones used to cut young lives short in Parkland and in Texas, are easily available to Rhode Island civilians. The Rhode Island General Assembly must act this legislative session to pass the Safe Schools Act and the Assault Weapons Ban before the name of a Rhode Island town becomes synonymous with gun violence.“The Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence has and will continue to offer action alongside thoughts and prayers by fighting to ensure the Safe Schools Act and Assault Weapon Ban are given a vote this legislative session.”
Governor Gina Raimondo released the following statement:
“There are no words to express the horror of today’s shooting at Santa Fe High School. Andy and I are praying for the victims and their families. As we mourn those senselessly killed and injured, we also mourn our national leaders’ inaction. Our country cannot–and should not–accept a reality in which we continually fail to keep our children safe from gun violence. Here in Rhode Island, we’re taking action to protect our kids. I urge our leaders in Washington to immediately do the same.”
Our children dying, a whole generation of young people crying out for action so they won't be next, and still...nothing.
US Rep. David Cicilline tweeted:
“Every time there’s another mass shooting, I get more pissed off at Republicans in Congress. They are the reason nothing gets done to stop this.”